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COURT  LIFE  IN  CHINA 


ISAAC  TAYLOR  HEADLAND’S 
THREE  BOOKS  THAT 
“LINK  EAST  AND  WEST” 


Court  Life  in  China 

The  Capital,  Its  Officials  and 
People. 

Illustrated,  cloth,  net  $1.50 

The  Chinese  Boy  and 
Girl 

Fully  Illustrated,  Quarto  boards, 
decorated,  net  ^1.00 

Chinese  Mother  Goose 
Rhymes 

Illustrated,  Quarto  boards,  net  $1.00 


The  Empress  Dowager  as  the 
Goddess  of  Mercy. 

In  this  painting  the  Empress  Dowager  is  repre- 
sented as  the  “Goddess  of  Mercy,”  an  attitude 
which  she  delighted  to  assume,  with  her  rosary  in 
her  hand,  standing  upon  a lotus  petal  and  floating 
upon  the  waves  of  the  sea.  It  was  painted  for  the 
author  by  one  of  the  leading  portrait  painters  of 
Peking.  (See  page  go.) 


Court  Life  in  China 


THE  CAPITAL 
ITS  OFFICIALS 
AND  PEOPLE 


By 

ISAAC  TAYLOR  I^ADLAND 


Professor  in  the  Peking  University 


ILLUSTRATED 


117379  ' 

New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1909,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


Second  Edition 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  80  Wabash  Avenue 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:  100  Princes  Street 


PREFACE 


NTIL  within  the  past  ten  years  a study  of 


Chinese  court  life  would  have  been  an 


impossibility.  The  Emperor,  the  Em- 


press Dowager,  and  the  court  ladies  were  shut 
up  within  the  Forbidden  City,  away  from  a world 
they  were  anxious  to  see,  and  which  was  equally 
anxious  to  see  them.  Then  the  Emperor  insti- 
tuted reform,  the  Empress  Dowager  came  out 
from  behind  the  screen,  and  the  court  entered 
into  social  relations  with  Europeans. 

For  twenty  years  and  more  Mrs.  Headland  has 
been  physician  to  the  family  of  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager’s mother,  the  Empress’  sister,  and  many  of 
the  princesses  and  high  official  ladies  in  Peking. 
She  has  visited  them  in  a social  as  well  as  a profes- 
sional way,  has  taken  with  her  her  friends,  to 
whom  the  princesses  have  shown  many  favours, 
and  they  have  themselves  been  constant  callers 
at  our  home.  It  is  to  my  wife,  therefore,  that  I 
am  indebted  for  much  of  the  information  con- 
tained in  this  book. 

There  are  many  who  have  thought  that  the 
Empress  Dowager  has  been  misrepresented. 
The  world  has  based  its  judgment  of  her  charac- 
ter upon  her  greatest  mistake,  her  participation 
in  the  Boxer  movement,  which  seems  unjust,  and 


I 


117379 


2 


Preface 


has  closed  its  eyes  to  the  tremendous  reforms 
which  only  her  mind  could  conceive  and  her 
hand  carry  out.  The  great  Chinese  officials  to  a 
man  recognized  in  her  a mistress  of  every  situa- 
tion ; the  foreigners  who  have  come  into  most 
intimate  contact  with  her,  voice  her  praise  ; while 
her  hostile  critics  are  confined  for  the  most  part 
to  those  who  have  never  known  her.  It  was  for 
this  reason  that  a more  thorough  study  of  her 
life  was  undertaken. 

It  has  also  been  thought  that  the  Emperor  has 
been  misunderstood,  being  overestimated  by 
some,  and  underestimated  by  others,  and  this 
because  of  his  peculiar  type  of  mind  and  charac- 
ter. That  he  was  unusual,  no  one  will  deny ; 
that  he  was  the  originator  of  many  of  China’s 
greatest  reform  measures,  is  equally  true  ; but 
that  he  lacked  the  power  to  execute  what  he  con- 
ceived, and  the  ability  to  select  great  statesmen 
to  assist  him,  seems  to  have  been  his  chief  short- 
coming. 

To  my  wife  for  her  help  in  the  preparation  of 
this  volume,  and  to  my  father-in-law,  Mr.  Will- 
iam Sinclair,  M.  A.,  for  his  suggestions,  I am 
under  many  obligations. 


I.  T.  H. 


CONTENTS 


I.  The  Empress  Dowager — Her  Early 

Life 7 

II.  The  Empress  Dowager — Her  Years 

OF  Training 17 

III.  The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Ruler  33 

IV.  The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Re- 

actionist   51 

V.  The  Empress  Dowager  — As  a 

Reformer 67 

VI.  The  Empress  Dowager — As  an 

Artist 83 

VII.  The  Empress  Dowager  — As  a 

Woman 95 

VIII.  KuangHsu — His  Self-Development  hi 

IX.  Kuang  HsU — As  Emperor  and  Re- 

former   129 

X.  Kuang  HstJ — As  a Prisoner  . .149 

XI.  Prince  ChOn — The  Regent  . .169 

XII.  The  Home  of  the  Court — The  For- 

bidden City 185 

XIII.  The  Ladies  of  the  Court  . .199 

XIV.  The  Princesses — Their  Schools  . 21 1 

XV.  The  Chinese  Ladies  of  Rank  . 227 

3 


4 

xvi. 

XVII. 

XVIII, 

XIX. 

XX. 
XXL 

XXII. 


Contents 

The  Social  Life  of  the  Chinese 
Woman 245 

The  Chinese  Ladies — Their  Ills  . 269 

The  Funeral  Ceremonies  of  a Dow- 
ager Princess  ....  287 

Chinese  Princes  and  Officials  . 303 

Peking — The  City  of  the  Court  . 327 

The  Death  of  Kuang  Hsu  and  the 
Empress  Dowager  . . -341 

The  Court  AND  THE  New  Education  353 

Index  ......  367 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Facing  page 

Dowager  Empress  as  Goddess  of  Mercy  . . . Title 

(Painted  by  a Chinese  artist) 

Empress  Dowager  in  Pearl  Fringed  Robes  . . 36 

Cock  and  Beetle  . . . . . . .87 


The  Empress  Dowager  as  Goddess  of  Mercy  . . 90 

Sprigs  of  Peach  Bloom  Painted  by  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager . . .....  92 

Portrait  of  the  Empress  Dowager  by  Miss  Karl, 
About  to  Leave  Peking  for  St.  Louis  Exhibi- 
tion . . . . . . . .104 

Manchu  Princesses  at  a Luncheon  at  the  American 

Legation  . . . . . . *173 

Prince  Chun  and  His  Delegation  . . . .175 

Prince  Pu  Lun,  Imperial  Delegate  to  the  St.  Louis 

Exposition  . . . . . . .182 

Empress  Dowager’s  Dining-Room  ....  193 

A Manchu  Princess  ......  208 

Prince  Su  and  His  Camel  Cart  . . . .211 

Chinese  Ladies  in  Winter  Garments  . . . 232 

Mrs.  Headland  and  Friends  Visiting  at  the  Home  of 

Duke  Jung  .......  255 

The  Empress  Dowager,  Placing  a Flower  in  Her 

Hair  ........  274 


5 


6 


Illustrations 


Hatamen  Street  Before  Macadamizing  , . *33° 

Hatamen  Street  as  It  is  To-Day  ....  340 

Prince  Chon  with  the  Emperor  Pu  I on  His  Left  346 
Yang  Shih-Hsiang  ......  362 

Yuan  Shih-kai  .......  362 


The  Empress  Dowager — Her  Early  Life 


All  the  period  since  i86i  should  be  rightly  recorded  as 
the  reign  of  Tze  Hsi  An,  a more  eventful  period  than  all 
the  two  hundred  and  forty-four  reigns  that  had  preceded 
her  three  usurpations.  It  began  after  a conquering  army 
had  made  terms  of  peace  in  her  capital,  and  with  the 
Tai-ping  rebellion  in  full  swing  of  success. 

Those  few  who  have  looked  upon  the  countenance  of  the 
Dowager  describe  her  as  a tall,  erect,  fine-looking  woman 
of  distinguished  and  imperious  bearing,  with  pronounced 
Tartar  features,  the  eye  of  an  eagle,  and  the  voice  of  de- 
termined authority  and  absolute  command. 

— Eliza  Ruhamah  Scidniore  in  “ China,  The  Long-Lived 
Empire.” 


Court  Life  in  China 


1 

THE  EMPRESS  DOWAGER—HER  EARLY  LIFE 

ONE  day  when  one  of  the  princesses  was 
calling  at  our  home  in  Peking,  I in- 
quired of  her  where  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager was  born.  She  gazed  at  me  for  a moment 
with  a queer  expression  wreathing  her  features, 
as  she  finally  said  with  just  the  faintest  shadow 
of  a smile : “We  never  talk  about  the  early  his- 
tory of  Her  Majesty.”  I smiled  in  return  and 
continued  : “I  have  been  told  that  she  was  born 
in  a small  house,  in  a narrow  street  inside  of  the 
east  gate  of  the  Tartar  city — the  gate  blown  up 
by  the  Japanese  when  they  entered  Peking  in 
1900.”  The  princess  nodded.  “ I have  also 
heard  that  her  father’s  name  was  Chao,  and  that 
he  was  a small  military  official  (she  nodded  again) 
who  was  afterwards  beheaded  for  some  neglect 
of  duty.”  To  this  the  visitor  also  nodded  assent. 

A few  days  later  several  well-educated  young 
Chinese  ladies,  daughters  of  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished scholars  in  Peking,  were  calling  on 

9 


lO 


Court  Life  in  China 


my  wife,  and  again  I pursued  my  inquiries.  “ Do 
you  know  anything  about  the  early  life  of  the 
Empress  Dowager?  ” I asked  of  the  eldest.  She 
hesitated  a moment,  with  that  same  blank  ex- 
pression I had  seen  on  the  face  of  the  princess, 
and  then  answered  very  deliberately, — “ Yes, 
everybody  knows,  but  nobody  talks  about  it.” 
And  this  is,  no  doubt,  the  reason  why  the  early 
life  of  the  greatest  woman  of  the  Mongol  race, 
and,  as  some  who  knew  her  best  think,  the  most 
remarkable  woman  of  the  nineteenth  century,  has 
ever  been  shrouded  in  mystery.  Whether  the 
Empress  desired  thus  to  efface  all  knowledge  of 
her  childhood  by  refusing  to  allow  it  to  be  talked 
about,  I do  not  know,  but  I said  to  myself: 
“ What  everybody  knows,  I can  know,”  and  I pro- 
ceeded to  find  out. 

I discovered  that  she  was  one  of  a family  of 
several  brothers  and  sisters  and  born  about  1834  ; 
that  the  financial  condition  of  her  parents  was  such 
that  when  a child  she  had  to  help  in  caring  for 
the  younger  children,  carrying  them  on  her  back, 
as  girls  do  in  China,  and  amusing  them  with  such 
simple  toys  as  are  hawked  about  the  streets  or  sold 
in  the  shops  for  a cash  or  two  apiece ; that  she  and 
her  brothers  and  little  sisters  amused  themselves 
with  such  games  as  blind  man’s  buff,  prisoner’s 
base,  kicking  marbles  and  flying  kites  in  company 
with  the  other  children  of  their  neighbourhood. 
During  these  early  years  she  was  as  fond  of  the 


The  Empress  Dowager — Her  Early  Life  1 1 

puppet  plays,  trained  mice  shows,  bear  shows,  and 
“ Punch  and  Judy”  as  she  was  in  later  years  of 
the  theatrical  performances  with  which  she  enter- 
tained her  visitors  at  the  palace.  She  was  com- 
pelled to  run  errands  for  her  mother,  going  to 
the  shops,  as  occasion  required,  for  the  daily  sup- 
ply of  oils,  onions,  garlic,  and  other  vegetables 
that  constituted  the  larger  portion  of  their  food. 
I found  out  also  that  there  is  not  the  slightest 
foundation  for  the  story  that  in  her  childhood  she 
was  sold  as  a slave  and  taken  to  the  south  of 
China. 

The  outdoor  life  she  led,  the  games  she  played, 
and  the  work  she  was  forced  to  do  in  the  absence 
of  household  servants,  gave  to  the  little  girl  a 
well-developed  body,  a strong  constitution  and  a 
fund  of  experience  and  information  which  can  be 
obtained  in  no  other  way.  She  was  one  of  the 
great  middle  class.  She  knew  the  troubles  and 
trials  of  the  poor.  She  had  felt  the  pangs  of 
hunger.  She  could  sympathize  with  the  millions 
of  ambitious  girls  struggling  to  be  freed  from  the 
trammels  of  ignorance  and  the  age-old  customs 
of  the  past — a combat  which  was  the  more  real 
because  it  must  be  carried  on  in  silence.  And 
who  can  say  that  it  was  not  the  struggles  and 
privations  of  her  own  childhood  which  led  to  the 
wish  in  her  last  years  that  “ the  girls  of  my  em- 
pire may  be  educated  ” ? 

When  little  Miss  Chao  had  reached  the  age  of 


12 


Court  Life  in  China 


fourteen  or  fifteen  she  was  taken  by  her  parents 
to  an  office  in  the  northern  part  of  the  imperial 
city  of  Peking  where  her  name,  age,  personal 
appearance,  and  estimated  degree  of  intelligence 
and  potential  ability  were  registered,  as  is  done  in 
the  case  of  all  the  daughters  of  the  Manchu  peo- 
ple, The  reason  for  this  singular  proceeding  is 
that  when  the  time  comes  for  the  selection  of  a 
wife  or  a concubine  for  the  Emperor,  or  the  choos- 
ing of  serving  girls  for  the  palace,  those  in  charge 
of  these  matters  will  know  where  they  can  be  ob- 
tained. 

This  custom  is  not  considered  an  unalloyed 
blessing  by  the  Manchu  people,  and  many  of 
them  would  gladly  avoid  registering  their  daugh- 
ters if  only  they  dared.  But  the  rule  is  compul- 
sory, and  every  one  belonging  to  the  eight  Ban- 
ners or  companies  into  which  the  Manchus  are 
divided  must  have  their  daughters  registered. 
Their  aversion  to  this  custom  is  well  illustrated 
in  the  following  incident : 

In  one  of  the  girls’  schools  in  Peking  there  was 
a beautiful  child,  the  daughter  of  a Manchu 
woman  whose  husband  was  dead.  One  day  this 
widow  came  to  the  principal  of  the  school  and 
said : “ A summons  has  come  from  the  court  for 
the  girls  of  our  clan  to  appear  before  the  officials 
that  a certain  number  may  be  chosen  and  sent 
into  the  palace  as  serving  girls.”  “ When  is  she 
to  appear  ? ” inquired  the  teacher.  “ On  the  six- 


The  Empress  Dowager — Her  Early  Life  13 

teenth,”  answered  the  mother.  “ I suppose  you 
are  anxious  that  she  should  be  one  of  the  fortu- 
nate ones,”  said  the  teacher,  “ though  I should  be 
sorry  to  lose  her  from  the  school.”  “ On  the  con- 
trary,” said  the  mother,  “ I should  be  distressed 
if  she  were  chosen,  and  have  come  to  consult 
with  you  as  to  whether  we  might  not  hire  a 
substitute.”  The  teacher  expressed  surprise  and 
asked  her  why.  “ When  our  daughters  are  taken 
into  the  palace,”  answered  the  mother,  “they  are 
dead  to  us  until  they  are  twenty-five,  when  they 
are  allowed  to  return  home.  If  they  are  incom- 
petent or  dull  they  are  often  severely  punished. 
They  may  contract  disease  and  die,  and  their 
death  is  not  even  announced  to  us ; while  if  they 
prove  themselves  efficient  and  win  the  approval 
of  the  authorities  they  are  retained  in  the  palace 
and  we  may  never  see  them  or  hear  from  them 
again.” 

At  first  the  teacher  was  inclined  to  favour  the 
hiring  of  a substitute,  but  on  further  considera- 
tion concluded  that  it  would  be  contrary  to  the 
law,  and  advised  that  the  girl  be  allowed  to  go. 
The  mother,  however,  was  so  anxious  to  prevent 
her  being  chosen  that  she  sent  her  with  uncombed 
hair,  soiled  clothes  and  a dirty  face,  that  she 
might  appear  as  unattractive  as  possible. 

The  prospects  for  a concubine  are  even  less 
promising  than  for  a serving  maid,  as  when  she 
once  enters  the  palace  she  has  little  if  any  hope 


14  Court  Life  in  China 

of  ever  leaving  it.  She  is  neither  mistress  nor 
servant,  wife  nor  slave,  she  is  but  one  of  a hun- 
dred buds  in  a garden  of  roses  which  have  little 
if  any  prospect  of  ever  blooming  or  being  plucked 
for  the  court  bouquet.  When,  therefore,  the  gates 
of  the  Forbidden  City  close  behind  the  young 
girls  who  are  taken  in  as  concubines  of  an  em- 
peror they  shut  out  an  attractive,  busy,  beautiful 
world,  filled  with  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls, 
homes  and  children,  green  fields  and  rich  harvests, 
and  confine  them  within  the  narrow  limits  of  one 
square  mile  of  brick-paved  earth,  surrounded  by 
a wall  twenty-five  feet  high  and  thirty  feet  thick, 
in  which  there  is  but  one  solitary  man  who  is 
neither  father,  brother,  husband  nor  friend  to 
them,  and  whom  they  may  never  even  see. 

When  therefore  the  time  came  for  the  selection 
of  concubines  for  the  Emperor  Hsien  Feng,  and 
our  little  Miss  Chao  was  taken  into  the  palace, 
her  parents,  like  many  others,  had  every  reason 
to  consider  it  a piece  of  ill-fortune  which  had 
visited  their  home.  The  future  was  veiled  from 
them.  The  Forbidden  City,  surrounded  by  its 
great  crenelated  wall,  may  have  seemed  more  like 
a prison  than  like  a palace.  True,  they  had  other 
children,  and  she  was  “ only  a girl,  but  even  girls 
are  a small  blessing,”  as  they  tell  us  in  their  prov- 
erbs. She  had  grown  old  enough  to  be  use- 
ful in  the  home,  and  they  no  doubt  had  cherished 
plans  of  betrothing  her  to  the  son  of  some  mer- 


The  Empress  Dowager — Her  Early  Life  15 

chant  or  official  who  would  add  wealth  or  honour 
to  their  family.  Neither  father  nor  mother, 
brother  nor  sister,  could  have  conceived  of  the 
potential  power,  honour  and  even  glory,  that  were 
wrapped  up  in  that  girl,  and  that  were  finally  to 
come  to  them  as  a family,  as  well  as  to  many  of 
them  as  individuals.  Their  wildest  dreams  at 
that  time  could  not  have  pictured  themselves 
dukes  and  princesses,  with  their  daughters  as 
empresses,  duchesses,  or  ladies-in-waiting  in  the 
palace.  But  such  it  proved  to  be. 


3 


''1 


II 

The  Empress  Dowager — Her  Years  of 
Training 


The  kindness  of  the  Empress  is  as  boundless  as  the  sea. 
Her  person  too  is  holy,  she  is  like  a deity. 

With  boldness,  from  seclusion,  she  ascends  the  Dragon 
Throne, 

And  saves  her  suffering  country  from  a fate  we  dare  not 
own. 


“ Yuan  Fan,"  Translated  by  /.  T.  H. 


II 


THE  EMPRESS  DOWAGER— HER  YEARS  OF 
TRAINING 

The  year  our  little  Miss  Chao  entered  the 
palace  was  a memorable  one  in  the 
history  of  China.  The  Tai-ping  rebel- 
lion, which  had  begun  in  the  south  some  three 
years  earlier  (1850),  had  established  its  capital  at 
Nanking,  on  the  Yangtse  River,  and  had  sent  its 
“long-haired”  rebels  north  on  an  expedition  of 
conquest,  the  ultimate  aim  of  which  was  Peking. 
By  the  end  of  the  year  1853  they  had  arrived 
within  one  hundred  miles  of  the  capital,  conquer- 
ing everything  before  them,  and  leaving  devas- 
tation and  destruction  in  their  wake. 

Their  success  had  been  extraordinary.  Start- 
ing in  the  southwest  with  an  army  of  ten  thou- 
sand men  they  had  eighty  thousand  when  they 
arrived  before  the  walls  of  Nanking.  They  were 
an  undisciplined  horde,  without  commissariat, 
without  drilled  military  leaders,  but  with  such  reck- 
less daring  and  bravery  that  the  imperial  troops 
were  paralyzed  with  fear  and  never  dared  to  meet 
them  in  the  open  field.  Thousands  of  common 
thieves  and  robbers  flocked  to  their  standards 
with  every  new  conquest,  impelled  by  no  higher 

19 


20 


Court  Life  in  China 


motive  than  that  of  pillage  and  gain.  Rumours 
became  rife  in  every  village  and  hamlet,  and  as 
they  neared  the  capital  the  wildest  tales  were  told 
in  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  city,  from  the 
palace  of  the  young  Emperor  in  the  Forbidden 
City  to  the  mat  shed  of  the  meanest  beggar  be- 
neath the  city  wall. 

My  wife  says : “ I remember  just  after  going 

to  China,  sitting  one  evening  on  a kang,  or  brick 
bed,  with  Yin-ma,  an  old  nurse,  our  only  light 
being  a wick  floating  in  a dish  of  oil.  Yin-ma 
was  about  the  age  of  the  Empress  Dowager,  but, 
unlike  Her  Majesty,  her  locks  were  snow-white. 
When  I entered  the  dimly  lighted  room  she  was 
sitting  in  the  midst  of  a group  of  women  and 
girls — patients  in  the  hospital — who  listened  with 
bated  breath  as  she  told  them  of  the  horrors  of 
the  Tai-ping  rebellion. 

“ ‘ Why  1 ’ said  the  old  nurse,  ‘ all  that  the  rebels 
had  to  do  on  their  way  to  Peking,  was  to  cut  out 
as  many  paper  soldiers  as  they  wanted,  put  them 
in  boxes,  and  breathe  upon  them  when  they  met 
the  imperial  troops,  and  they  were  transformed 
into  such  fierce  warriors  that  no  one  was  able  to 
withstand  them.  Then  when  the  battle  was  over 
and  they  had  come  off  victors  they  only  needed 
to  breathe  upon  them  again,  when  they  were 
changed  into  paper  images  and  packed  in  their 
boxes,  requiring  neither  food  nor  clothing.  In- 
deed the  spirits  of  the  rebels  were  everywhere, 


21 


Her  Years  of  Training 

and  no  matter  who  cut  out  paper  troops  they 
could  change  them  into  real  soldiers.’ 

“ ‘ But,  Yin-ma,  you  do  not  believe  those 
superstitions,  do  you  ? ’ 

“ ‘ These  are  not  superstitions,  doctor,  these  are 
facts,  which  everybody  believed  in  those  days, 
and  it  was  not  safe  for  a woman  to  be  seen  with 
scissors  and  paper,  lest  her  neighbours  report  that 
she  was  cutting  out  troops  for  the  rebels.  The 
country  was  filled  with  all  kinds  of  rumours,  and 
every  one  had  to  be  very  careful  of  all  their  con- 
duct, and  of  everything  they  said,  lest  they  be 
arrested  for  sympathizing  with  the  enemy.’ 

“ ‘ But,  Yin-ma,  did  you  ever  see  any  of  these 
paper  images  transformed  into  soldiers  ? ’ 

‘“No,  I never  did  myself,  but  there  was  an 
old  woman  lived  near  our  place,  who  was  said  to 
be  in  sympathy  with  the  rebels.  One  night  my 
father  saw  soldiers  going  into  her  house  and 
when  he  had  followed  them  he  could  find  noth- 
ing but  paper  images.  You  may  not  have  any- 
thing of  this  kind  happen  in  America,  but  very 
many  people  saw  them  in  those  terrible  days  of 
pillage  and  bloodshed  here.’  ” 

Such  stories  are  common  in  all  parts  of  China 
during  every  period  of  rebellion,  war,  riot  or  dis- 
turbance of  any  kind.  The  people  go  about 
with  fear  on  their  faces,  and  horror  in  their 
voices,  telling  each  other  in  undertones  of  what 
some  one,  somewhere,  is  said  to  have  seen  or 


22 


Court  Life  in  China 


heard.  Nor  are  these  superstitions  confined  to 
the  common  people.  Many  of  the  better  classes 
believe  them  and  are  filled  with  fear. 

As  the  Tai-ping  rebellion  broke  out  when 
Miss  Chao  was  about  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of 
age,  she  would  hear  these  stories  for  two  or  three 
years  before  she  entered  the  palace.  After  she  had 
been  taken  into  the  Forbidden  City  she  would 
continue  to  hear  them,  brought  in  by  the 
eunuchs  and  circulated  not  only  among  all  the 
women  of  the  palace,  but  among  their  own  asso- 
ciates as  well,  and  here  they  would  take  on  a 
more  mysterious  and  alarming  aspect  to  these 
people  shut  away  from  the  world,  as  ghost  stories 
become  more  terrifying  when  told  in  the  dim 
twilight.  May  this  not  account  in  some  measure 
for  the  attitude  assumed  by  the  Empress  Dowa- 
ger towards  the  Boxer  superstitions  of  1900,  and 
their  pretentions  to  be  able  at  will  to  call  to  their 
aid  legions  of  spirit-soldiers,  while  at  the  same 
time  they  were  themselves  invulnerable  to  the 
bullets  of  their  enemies? 

It  was  when  Miss  Chao  was  ten  years  old  that 
the  conflict  known  as  the  Opium  War  was 
brought  to  an  end.  It  has  been  said  that  when 
the  Emperor  was  asked  to  sanction  the  importa- 
tion of  opium,  he  answered,  “ I will  never  legal- 
ize a traffic  that  will  be  an  injury  to  my  people,” 
but  whether  this  be  true  or  not,  it  is  admitted  by 
all  that  the  central  government  was  strongly  op- 


Her  Years  of  Training 


23 


posed  to  the  sale  and  use  of  the  drug  within  its 
domains.  It  is  unfortunate,  to  say  the  least,  that 
the  first  time  the  Chinese  came  into  collision 
with  European  governments  was  over  a matter 
of  this  kind,  and  it  is  to  the  credit  of  the  Chinese 
commissioner  when  the  twenty  thousand  chests 
of  opium,  over  which  the  dispute  arose,  were 
handed  over  to  him,  he  mixed  it  with  quicklime 
in  huge  vats  that  it  might  be  utterly  destroyed 
rather  than  be  an  injury  to  his  people.  They 
may  have  exhibited  an  ignorance  of  international 
law,  they  may  have  manifested  an  unwise  con- 
tempt for  the  foreigner,  but  it  remains  a fact  of 
history  that  they  were  ready  to  suffer  great  finan- 
cial loss  rather  than  get  revenue  from  the  ruin  of 
their  subjects,  and  that  England  went  to  war  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  indemnity  for  the  opium 
destroyed. 

The  common  name  for  opium  among  the 
Chinese  is  yang  yen — foreign  tobacco,  and  my 
wife  says : “ When  calling  at  the  Chinese  homes, 
I have  frequently  been  offered  the  opium-pipe,  and 
when  I refused  it  the  ladies  expressed  surprise, 
saying  that  they  were  under  the  impression  that 
all  foreigners  used  it.” 

What  now  were  the  results  of  the  Opium  War 
as  viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Chinese 
people,  and  what  impression  would  it  make  upon 
them  as  a whole  ? Great  Britain  demanded  an 
indemnity  of  $21,000,000,  the  cession  to  them  of 


24 


Court  Life  in  China 


Hongkong,  an  island  on  the  southern  coast, 
and  the  opening  of  five  ports  to  British  trade. 
China  lost  her  standing  as  suzerain  among  the 
peoples  of  the  Orient  and  got  her  first  glimpse  of 
the  White  Peril  from  the  West. 

Although  the  Empress  Dowager  was  but  a 
child  of  ten  at  this  time  she  would  receive  her 
first  impression  of  the  foreigner,  which  was  that 
he  was  a pirate  who  had  come  to  carry  away 
their  wealth,  to  filch  from  them  their  land,  and 
to  overrun  their  country.  He  became  a veritable 
bugaboo  to  men,  women  and  children  alike,  and 
this  impression  was  crystallized  in  the  expression 
ya7ig  kuei,  “foreign  devil,”  which  is  the  only 
term  among  a large  proportion  of  the  Chinese 
by  which  the  foreigner  is  known.  One  day  when 
walking  on  the  street  in  Peking  I met  a woman 
with  a child  of  two  years  in  her  arms,  and  as  I 
passed  them,  the  child  patted  its  mother  on  the 
cheek  and  said  in  an  undertone, — “ The  foreign 
devil’s  coming,”  which  led  the  frightened  mother 
to  cover  its  eyes  with  her  hand  that  it  might  not 
be  injured  by  the  sight. 

On  one  occasion  a friend  was  travelling 
through  the  country  when  a Chinese  gentleman, 
dressed  in  silk  and  wearing  an  official  hat,  called 
on  him  at  the  inn  where  he  was  stopping  and 
with  a profound  bow  addressed  him  as  “ Old  Mr. 
Foreign  Devil.” 

My  wife  says  that : “Not  infrequently  when  I 


25 


Her  Years  of  Training 

have  been  called  for  the  first  time  to  the  homes 
of  the  better  classes  I have  seen  the  children  run 
into  the  house  from  the  outer  court  exclaiming, 
— ‘The  devil  doctor’s  coming.’  Indeed,  I have 
heard  the  women  use  this  term  in  speaking  of 
me  to  my  assistant  until  I objected,  when  they 
asked  with  surprise, — ‘ Doesn’t  she  like  to  be 
called  foreign  devil  ? ’ ” And  so  the  Empress 
Dowager’s  first  impression  of  the  foreigner  would 
be  that  of  a devil. 

Colonel  Denby  tells  us  that  “A  Frenchman 
and  his  wife  were  carried  off  from  Tonquin  by 
bandits  who  took  refuge  in  China.  The  Chinese 
government  was  asked  to  rescue  these  prisoners 
and  restore  them  to  liberty.  China  sent  a 
brigade  of  troops,  who  pursued  the  bandits  to 
their  den  and  recovered  the  prisoners.  The 
French  government  thanked  the  Chinese  gov- 
ernment for  its  assistance,  and  bestowed  the 
decoration  of  the  Legion  of  Honour  on  the 
brigade  commander,  and  then  shortly  afterwards 
demanded  the  payment  of  an  enormous  in- 
demnity for  the  outrage  on  the  ground  that 
China  had  delayed  to  effect  the  rescue.  The 
Chinese  were  aghast,  but  they  paid  the  money.” 

This  incident  does  not  stand  alone,  but  is  one 
of  a number  of  similar  experiences  which  the 
Chinese  government  had  in  her  relation  with  the 
powers  of  Europe,  and  which  have  been  reported 
by  such  writers  as  Holcomb,  Beresford,  Gorst 


26 


Court  Life  in  China 


Colquhoun  and  others  in  trying  to  account  for 
the  feelings  the  Chinese  have  towards  us,  all  of 
which  was  embodied  in  the  years  of  training  of 
our  little  concubine. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  many  concubines 
are  selected  whom  the  Emperor  never  takes  the 
trouble  to  see.  After  being  taken  in,  their 
temper  and  disposition  are  carefully  noted, 
their  faithfulness  in  the  duties  assigned  them, 
their  diligence  in  the  performance  of  their 
tasks,  their  kindness  to  their  inferiors,  their 
treatment  of  their  equals,  and  their  politeness 
and  obedience  to  their  superiors,  and  upon  all 
these  things,  with  many  others,  as  we  shall  see, 
their  promotion  will  finally  depend. 

When  Miss  Chao  entered  the  palace,  like 
most  girls  of  her  class  or  station  in  life,  she  was 
uneducated.  She  may  have  studied  the  small 
“ Classic  for  Girls  ” in  which  she  learned : 

“You  should  rise  from  bed  as  early  in  the  morning  as  the 
sun, 

Nor  retire  at  evening’s  closing  till  your  work  is  wholly 
done.” 

Or,  further,  she  may  have  been  told, 

“ When  the  wheel  of  life’s  at  fifteen. 

Or  when  twenty  years  have  passed. 

As  a girl  with  home  and  kindred  these  will  surely  be 
your  last ; 


Her  Years  of  Training  27 

While  expert  in  all  employments  that  compose  a 
woman’s  life, 

You  should  study  as  a daughter  all  the  duties  of  a 
wife.” 

Or  she  may  have  read  the  “ Filial  Piety  Classic 
for  Girls  ” in  which  she  learned  the  importance 
of  the  attitude  she  assumed  towards  those  who 
were  in  authority  over  her,  but  certain  it  is  she 
was  not  educated. 

She  had,  however,  what  was  better  than  edu- 
cation— a disposition  to  learn.  And  so  when  she 
had  the  good  fortune, — or  shall  we  say  misfor- 
tune,— for  as  we  have  seen  it  is  variously  re- 
garded by  Chinese  parents — to  be  taken  into  the 
palace,  she  found  there  educated  eunuchs  who 
were  set  aside  as  teachers  of  the  imperial  harem. 
She  was  bright,  attractive,  and  I think  I may  add 
without  fear  of  contradiction,  very  ambitious,  and 
this  in  no  bad  sense.  She  devoted  herself  to  her 
studies  with  such  energy  and  diligence  as  not 
only  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  teacher,  but  to 
make  herself  a fair  scholar,  a good  penman,  and 
an  exceptional  painter,  and  it  was  not  long  until, 
from  among  all  the  concubines,  she  had  gained 
the  attention  and  won  the  admiration — and  shall 
we  say  affection — not  only  of  the  Empress,  but 
of  the  Emperor  himself,  and  she  was  selected  as 
the  first  concubine  or  hcei  fei,  and  from  that 
time  until  the  death  of  the  Empress  the  two 
women  were  the  starmchest  of  friends. 


28 


Court  Life  in  China 


The  new  favourite  had  been  a healthy  and  vig- 
orous girl,  with  plenty  of  outdoor  life  in  child- 
hood, and  it  was  not  long  before  she  became  the 
happy  mother  of  Hsien  Feng’s  only  son.  She 
was  thenceforward  known  as  the  Empress-mother. 
In  a short  time  she  was  raised  to  the  position  of 
wife,  and  given  the  title  of  Western  Empress, 
as  the  other  was  known  as  the  Eastern,  from 
which  time  the  two  women  were  equal  in  rank, 
and,  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  equal  in  power. 

The  first  Empress  was  a pampered  daughter  of 
wealth,  neither  vigorous  of  body  nor  strong  of 
mind,  caring  nothing  for  political  power  if  only 
she  might  have  ease  and  comfort,  and  there  is 
nothing  that  exhibits  the  Empress  Dowager’s  real 
greatness  more  convincingly  than  the  fact  that 
she  was  able  to  live  for  thirty  years  the  more  for- 
tunate mother  of  her  country’s  ruler,  and,  in 
power,  the  mistress  of  her  superior,  without 
arousing  the  latter’s  envy,  jealousy,  anger,  or 
enmity.  Let  any  woman  who  reads  this  imag- 
ine, if  she  can,  herself  placed  in  the  position  of 
either  of  these  ladies  without  being  inclined  to 
despise  the  less  fortunate,  ease-loving  Empress  if 
she  be  the  dowager,  or  hating  the  more  power- 
ful dowager  if  she  be  the  Empress.  Such  a state 
of  affairs  as  these  two  women  lived  in  for  more 
than  a quarter  of  a century  is  almost  if  not  en- 
tirely unique  in  history. 

Perhaps  the  incident  which  made  most  im- 


Her  Years  of  Training  29 

pression  upon  her  was  one  which  happened  in 
i860  and  is  recorded  in  history  as  the  Arrow 
War,  A few  years  before  a number  of  Chinese, 
who  owned  a boat  called  the  Arrow,  had  it  reg- 
istered in  Hongkong  and  hence  were  allowed  to 
sail  under  the  British  flag.  There  is  no  question 
I think  but  that  these  Chinese  were  committing 
acts  of  piracy,  and  as  this  was  one  of  the  causes 
of  disturbance  on  that  southern  coast  for  cen- 
turies past,  the  viceroy  decided  to  rid  the  country 
of  this  pest.  Nine  days  after  the  time  for  which 
the  boat  had  been  registered,  but  while  it  con- 
tinued unlawfully  to  float  the  British  colours,  the 
viceroy  seized  the  boat,  imprisoned  all  her  crew, 
and  dragged  down  the  British  flag.  This  was  an 
insult  which  Great  Britain  could  not  or  would 
not  brook  and  so  the  viceroy  was  ordered  to  re- 
lease the  prisoners,  all  of  whom  were  Chinese 
subjects,  on  penalty  of  being  blown  up  in  his 
own  yamen  if  he  refused. 

Frightened  at  the  threat,  and  remembering  the 
result  of  the  former  war,  the  viceroy  sent  the 
prisoners  to  the  consulate  in  chains  without 
proper  apologies  for  his  insult  to  the  flag.  This 
angered  the  consul  and  he  returned  them  to  the 
viceroy,  who  promptly  cut  off  their  heads  with- 
out so  much  as  the  semblance  of  a trial,  and 
Britain,  anxious,  as  she  was,  to  have  every  door 
of  the  Chinese  empire  opened  to  foreign  trade, 
found  in  this  another  pretext  for  war.  We  do 


Court  Life  in  China 


30 

not  pretend  to  argue  that  this  was  not  the  best 
thing  for  China  and  for  the  world,  but  it  can  only 
be  considered  so  from  the  bitter  medicine,  and 
corporal  punishment  point  of  view,  neither  of 
which  are  agreeable  to  either  the  patient  or  the 
pupil. 

Britain  went  to  war.  The  viceroy  was  taken 
a prisoner  to  India,  whence  he  never  returned. 
As  though  ashamed  to  enter  upon  a second  un- 
provoked and  unjust  war  alone,  she  invited 
France,  Russia,  and  America  to  join  her.  France 
was  quite  ready  to  do  so  in  the  hope  of  strength- 
ening her  position  in  Indo-China,  and  with  noth- 
ing more  than  the  murder  of  a missionary  in 
Kuangsi  as  a pretext  she  put  a body  of  troops  in 
the  field  large  enough  to  enable  her  to  check- 
mate England,  or  humiliate  China  as  the  ex- 
igencies of  the  occasion,  and  her  own  interests, 
might  demand.  America  and  Russia  having  no 
cause  for  war,  no  wrongs  to  redress,  and  no 
desire  for  territory,  refused  to  join  her  in  sending 
troops,  but  gave  her  such  sympathy  and  support 
as  would  enable  her  to  bring  about  a more  satis- 
factory arrangement  of  China’s  foreign  relations 
— that  is  more  satisfactory  to  themselves  regard- 
less of  the  wishes,  though  not  perhaps  the  in- 
terests, of  China. 

We  know  how  the  British  and  French  marched 
upon  Peking  in  i860;  how  the  summer  palace 
was  left  a heap  of  ruins  as  a punishment  for  the 


Her  Years  of  Training  31 

murder  of  a company  of  men  under  a flag  of 
truce ; and  how  the  Emperor  Hsien  Feng,  with 
his  wife,  and  the  mother  of  his  only  son,  our 
Empress  Dowager,  were  compelled  to  flee  for  the 
first  time  before  a foreign  invader.  Their  refuge 
was  Jehol,  a fortified  town,  in  a wild  and  rugged 
mountain  pass,  on  the  borders  of  China  and 
Tartary,  a hundred  miles  northeast  of  Peking. 
At  this  place  the  Emperor  died,  whether  of  dis- 
ease, chagrin,  or  of  a broken  heart— or  of  all 
combined,  it  is  impossible  to  say,  and  the  Em- 
press-mother w'as  left  an  exile  and  a widow,  with 
the  capital  and  the  throne  for  the  first  time  at 
the  mercy  of  the  Western  barbarian. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  two  important 
phases  of  the  Empress  Dowager’s  life — her 
affliction  and  her  power,  and  her  greatness  is 
exhibited  as  well  by  the  way  in  which  she  bore 
the  one  as  by  the  way  in  which  she  wielded  the 
other.  In  most  cases  a woman  would  have  been 
so  overcome  by  sorrow  at  the  loss  of  her  husband, 
as  to  have  forgotten  the  affairs  of  state,  or  to  have 
placed  them  for  the  time  in  the  hands  of  others. 
Not  so  with  this  great  woman.  Prince  Kung, 
the  brother  of  Hsien  Feng,  had  been  left  in 
Peking  to  arrange  a treaty  with  the  Europeans, 
which  he  succeeded  in  doing  to  the  satisfaction 
of  both  the  Chinese  and  the  foreigners. 

On  the  death  of  the  Emperor,  a regency  was 
organized  by  two  of  the  princes,  which  did  not 


32 


Court  Life  in  China 


include  Prince  Kung,  and  disregarded  both  of 
the  dowagers,  and  it  seemed  as  though  Prince 
Kung  was  doomed.  His  father-in-law,  however, 
the  old  statesman  who  had  signed  the  treaties, 
urged  him  to  be  the  first  to  get  the  ear  of  the 
two  women  on  their  return  to  the  capital.  This 
he  did,  and  as  it  seemed  evident  that  the  regency 
and  the  council  had  been  organized  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  tyrannizing  over  the  Empresses 
and  the  child,  they  were  at  once  arrested,  the 
leader  beheaded,  and  the  others  condemned  to 
exile  or  to  suicide.  The  child  had  been  placed 
upon  the  throne  as  “ good-luck,”  but  now  a new 
regency  was  formed,  consisting  of  the  two 
dowagers,  with  Prince  Kung  as  joint  regent,  and 
the  title  of  the  reign  was  changed  to  Tung  Chih 
or  ” joint  government.”  Thus  ended  the  Em- 
press Dowager’s  years  of  training. 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Ruler 


That  a Manchu  woman  who  had  had  such  narrow  op- 
portunities of  obtaining  a knowledge  of  things  as  they  really 
are,  in  distinction  from  the  tissue  of  shams  which  consti- 
tute the  warp  and  the  woof  of  an  Oriental  Palace,  should 
have  been  able  to  hold  her  own  in  every  situation,  and 
never  be  crushed  by  the  opposing  forces  about  her,  is  a 
phenomenon  in  itself  only  to  be  explained  by  due  recogni- 
tion of  the  influence  of  individual  qualities  in  a ruler  even 
in  the  semi-absolutism  of  China. 

— Arthur  H.  Smith  in  “ China  in  Convulsion." 


m 


THE  EMPRESS  DOWAGER— AS  A RULER 

IN  considering  the  policy  pursued  by  the 
Empress-mother  after  her  accession  to  the 
regency,  one  cannot  but  feel  that  she  was 
fully  aware  of  the  fact  that  she  had  been  the  wife 
of  an  emperor,  and  was  the  mother  of  the  heir, 
of  a decaying  house.  Of  the  218  years  that  her 
dynasty  had  been  in  power,  120  had  been  occu- 
pied by  the  reigns  of  two  emperors,  and  only 
seven  monarchs  had  sat  upon  the  throne,  a 
smaller  number  than  ever  ruled  during  the  same 
period  in  all  Chinese  history.  These  two  Em- 
perors, Kang  Hsi  and  Chien  Lung,  the  second 
and  fourth,  had  each  reigned  for  sixty  years,  the 
most  brilliant  period  of  the  “ Great  Pure  Dy- 
nasty,” unless  we  except  the  last  six  years  of  the 
Empress  Dowager’s  regency.  The  other  ninety- 
eight  years  saw  five  rulers  rise  and  pass  away, 
each  one  becoming  weaker  than  his  predecessor 
both  in  character  and  in  physique,  until  with  the 
death  of  her  son,  Tung  Chih,  the  dynasty  was 
left  without  a direct  heir. 

The  decay  of  the  imperial  house,  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  foreigner,  and  the  opposition  of  the 
native  Chinese  to  the  rule  of  the  Manchus,  awoke 

35 


Court  Life  in  China 


36 

the  Empress  Dowager  to  a realization  of  the  fact 
that  a stronger  hand  than  that  of  her  husband 
must  be  at  the  helm  if  the  dynasty  of  her  people 
were  to  be  preserved.  “ It  may  be  said  with 
emphasis,”  says  Colonel  Denby,  who  was  for 
thirteen  years  minister  to  China,  “ that  the  Em- 
press Dowager  has  been  the  first  of  her  race  to 
apprehend  the  problem  of  the  relation  of  China 
to  the  outer  world,  and  to  make  use  of  this  rela- 
tion to  strengthen  her  dynasty  and  to  promote 
material  progress.”  She  was  fortunate  in  having 
Prince  Kung  associated  with  her  in  the  regency, 
a man  tall,  handsome  and  dignified,  and  the 
greatest  statesman  that  has  come  from  the  royal 
house  since  the  time  of  Chien  Lung. 

Here  appears  one  of  the  chief  characteristics 
of  the  Empress  Dowager  as  a ruler — her  ability 
to  choose  the  greatest  statesmen,  the  wisest  ad- 
visers, the  safest  leaders,  and  the  best  guides, 
from  the  great  mass  of  Chinese  officials,  whether 
progressive  or  conservative.  Prince  Kung  was 
for  forty  years  the  leading  figure  of  the  Chinese 
capital  outside  of  the  Forbidden  City.  He  ap- 
peared first,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  as  a mem- 
ber of  the  commission  that  tried  the  minister  who 
failed  to  make  good  his  promise  to  induce  Lord 
Elgin  and  his  men-of-war  to  withdraw  from  Tien- 
tsin in  1858.  The  following  year  he  was  made  a 
member  of  the  Colonial  Board  that  controlled  the 
affairs  of  the  “outer  Barbarians,”  and  a year  later 


EMPRESS  DOWAGER  IN  PEARL  FRINGED 
ROYAL  ROBES 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Ruler  37 

was  left  in  Peking,  when  the  court  fled,  to  ar- 
range a treaty  of  peace  with  the  victorious  Brit- 
ish and  French  after  they  had  taken  the  capital, 
“ In  these  trying  circumstances,”  says  Professor 
Giles,  “the  tact  and  resource  of  Prince  Rung 
won  the  admiration  of  his  opponents,”  and  when 
the  Foreign  Office  was  formed  in  1861,  it  be- 
gan with  the  Prince  as  its  first  president,  a posi- 
tion which  he  continued  to  hold  for  many  years. 

It  was  he,  as  we  have  seen,  who  succeeded  in 
outwitting  and  overthrowing  the  self-constituted 
regency  on  the  death  of  his  brother  Hsien  Feng, 
and,  with  the  Empress  Dowager,  seated  her  in- 
fant son  upon  the  throne,  with  the  two  Empresses 
and  himself  as  joint  regents.  This  condition  con- 
tinued for  some  years,  with  the  senior  Empress 
exercising  no  authority,  and  Prince  Kung  con- 
tinually growing  in  power.  The  arrangement 
seemed  satisfactory  to  all  but  one — the  Empress- 
mother.  To  her  it  appeared  as  though  he  were 
fast  becoming  the  government,  and  she  and  the 
Empress  were  as  rapidly  receding  into  the  back- 
ground, while  in  reality  the  design  had  been  to 
make  him  “joint  regent  ” with  them.  In  all  the 
receptions  of  the  officials  by  the  court.  Prince 
Kung  alone  could  see  them  face  to  face,  while  the 
ladies  were  compelled  to  remain  behind  a screen, 
listening  to  the  deliberations  but  without  taking 
any  part  therein,  other  than  by  such  suggestions 
as  they  might  make. 


38 


Court  Life  in  China 


Being  the  visible  head  of  the  government,  and 
the  only  avenue  to  positions  of  preferment,  he 
would  naturally  be  flattered  by  the  Chinese  offi- 
cials. This  led  him  to  assume  an  air  of  impor- 
tance which  consciously  or  unconsciously  he  car- 
ried into  the  presence  of  their  Majesties,  and  one 
morning  he  awoke  to  find  himself  stripped  of  all 
his  rank  and  power,  and  confined  and  guarded  a 
prisoner  in  his  palace,  by  a joint  decree  from  the 
two  Empresses  accusing  him  of  “ lack  of  respect 
for  their  Majesties.”  The  deposed  Prince  at  once 
begged  their  forgiveness,  whereupon  all  his  hon- 
ours were  restored  with  their  accompanying 
dignities,  but  none  of  his  former  power  as  joint 
regent,  and  thus  the  first  obstacle  to  her  reestab- 
lishment of  the  dynasty  was  eliminated  by  the  . 
Empress-mother.  To  show  Prince  Kung,  how- 
ever, that  they  bore  him  no  ill  will,  the  Em- 
presses adopted  his  daughter  as  their  own,  rais- 
ing her  to  the  rank  of  an  imperial  princess,  and 
though  the  Prince  has  long  since  passed  away 
his  daughter  still  lives,  and  next  to  the  Empress 
Dowager  has  been  the  leading  figure  in  court 
circles  during  the  past  ten  years’  association  with 
the  foreigners. 

During  her  son’s  minority,  after  the  dismissal 
of  Prince  Kung  as  joint  regent,  the  Empress- 
mother  year  by  year  took  a more  active  part  in 
the  affairs  of  state,  while  the  Empress  as  grad- 
ually sank  into  the  background.  She  was  far 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Ruler  39 

sighted.  Having  but  one  son,  and  knowing  the 
uncertainty  of  life,  she  originated  a plan  to  secure 
the  succession  to  her  family.  To  this  end  she 
arranged  for  the  marriage  of  her  younger  sister 
to  her  husband’s  younger  brother  commonly 
known  as  the  Seventh  Prince,  in  the  hope  that  from 
this  union  there  might  come  a son  who  would 
be  a worthy  occupant  of  the  dragon  throne  in  case 
her  own  son  died  without  issue.  She  felt  that 
the  country  needed  a great  central  figure  capable 
of  inspiring  confidence  and  banishing  uncertainty, 
a strong,  well-balanced,  broad-minded,  self-abne^ 
gating  chief  executive,  and  she  proposed  to 
furnish  one.  Whether  she  would  succeed  or  not 
must  be  left  to  the  future  to  reveal,  but  the  one 
great  task  set  by  destiny  for  her  to  accomplish 
was  to  prepare  the  mind  of  a worthy  successor  to 
meet  openly  and  intelligently  the  problems  which 
had  been  too  vast,  too  new  and  too  complicated 
for  her  predecessors,  if  not  for  herself,  to  solve. 

When  her  son  was  seventeen  years  old  he  was 
married  to  Alute,  a young  Manchu  lady  of  one  of 
the  best  families  in  Peking  and  was  nominally 
given  the  reins  of  power,  though  as  a matter  of 
fact  the  supreme  control  of  affairs  was  still  in  the 
hands  of  his  more  powerful  mother.  The  minis- 
ters of  the  European  countries,  England,  France, 
Germany,  Russia  and  the  United  States,  now 
resident  at  Peking,  thought  this  a good  time  for 
bringing  up  the  matter  of  an  audience  with  the 


40 


Court  Life  in  China 


new  ruler,  and  after  a long  discussion  with  Prince 
Rung  and  the  Empress-mother,  the  matter  was 
arranged  without  the  ceremony  of  prostration 
which  all  previous  rulers  had  demanded. 

The  married  life  of  this  young  couple  was  a 
short  one.  Three  years  after  their  wedding  cere- 
monies the  young  monarch  contracted  smallpox 
and  died  without  issue,  and  was  followed  shortly 
afterwards  by  his  young  wife  who  heeded  liter- 
ally the  instruction  of  one  of  their  female  teach- 
ers in  her  duty  to  her  husband  to 

Share  his  joy  as  well  as  sorrow,  riches,  poverty  or  guilt, 

And  in  death  be  buried  with  him,  as  in  life  you  shared 
his  guilt. 

That  her  nearest  relatives  did  not  believe,  as 
has  often  been  suggested,  that  there  was  any 
“ foul  play  ” in  regard  to  her  death,  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  her  father  continued  to  hold 
office  until  the  time  of  the  Boxer  uprising,  at 
which  time  he  followed  the  fleeing  court  as  far  as 
Paotingfu,  where  having  heard  that  the  capital 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  hated  foreigners,  he  sent 
word  back  to  his  family  that  he  would  neither  eat 
the  foreigners’  bread  nor  drink  their  water,  but 
would  prefer  to  die  by  his  own  hand.  When  his 
family  received  this  message  they  commanded 
their  servants  to  dig  a great  pit  in  their  own 
court  in  which  they  all  lay  and  ordered  the  coolies 
to  bury  them.  This  they  at  first  refused  to  do, 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Ruler  41 

but  they  were  finally  prevailed  upon,  and  thus 
perished  all  the  male  members  of  her  father’s 
household  except  one  child  that  was  rescued  and 
carried  away  by  a faithful  nurse. 

When  Tung  Chih  died  there  was  a formidable 
party  in  the  palace  opposed  to  the  two  dowagers, 
anxious  to  oust  them  and  their  party  and  place 
upon  the  throne  a dissolute  son  of  Prince  Kung. 
But  it  would  require  a master  mind  from  the  out- 
side to  learn  of  the  death  of  her  son  and  select 
and  proclaim  a successor  quicker  than  the  Em- 
press Dowager  herself  could  do  so  from  the  in- 
side. She  first  sent  a secret  messenger  to  Li 
Hung-chang  whom  she  had  appointed  viceroy 
of  the  metropolitan  province  at  Tientsin  eighty 
miles  away,  informing  him  of  the  illness  of  her 
son  and  urging  him  to  come  to  Peking  with  his 
troops  post-haste  and  be  ready  to  prevent  any 
disturbance  in  case  of  his  death  and  the  announce- 
ment of  a successor. 

When  Li  Hung-chang  received  her  orders,  he 
began  at  once  to  put  them  into  execution.  Tak- 
ing with  him  four  thousand  of  his  most  reliable 
Anhui  men,  all  well-armed  horse,  foot  and  artil- 
lery, he  made  a secret  forced  march  to  Peking. 
The  distance  of  eighty  miles  was  covered  in 
thirty-six  hours  and  he  planned  to  arrive  at  mid- 
night. Exactly  on  the  hour  Li  and  his  picked 
guard  were  admitted,  and  in  dead  silence  they 
marched  into  the  Forbidden  City.  Every  man 


42 


Court  Life  in  China 


had  in  his  mouth  a wooden  bit  to  prevent  talk- 
ing, while  the  metal  trappings  of  the  horses  were 
muffled  to  deaden  all  sound.  When  they  arrived 
at  the  forbidden  precincts,  the  Manchu  Banner- 
men  on  guard  at  the  various  city  gates  were  re- 
placed by  Li’s  Anhui  braves,  and  as  the  Empress 
Dowager  had  sent  eunuchs  to  point  out  the  pal- 
ace troops  which  were  doubtful  or  that  had  openly 
declared  for  the  conspirators,  these  were  at  once 
disarmed,  bound  and  sent  to  prison.  The  artil- 
lery were  ordered  to  guard  the  gates  of  the  For- 
bidden City,  the  cavalry  to  patrol  the  grounds, 
and  the  foot-soldiers  to  pick  up  any  stray  con- 
spirators that  could  be  found.  A strong  detach- 
ment was  stationed  so  as  to  surround  the  Empress 
Dowager  and  the  child  whom  she  had  selected  as 
a successor  to  her  son,  and  when  the  morning  sun 
rose  bright  and  clear  over  the  Forbidden  City 
the  surprise  of  the  conspirators  who  had  slept  the 
night  away  was  complete.  Of  the  disaffected 
that  remained,  some  were  put  in  prison  and 
others  sent  into  perpetual  exile  to  the  Amoor  be- 
yond their  native  borders,  and  when  the  Empress 
Dowager  announced  the  death  of  her  son,  she 
^.^^roclaimed  the  son  of  her  sister,  Kuang  Hsii,  as 
his  successor,  with  herself  and  the  Empress  as  re- 
gents during  his  minority.  When  everything 
was  settled,  Li  folded  his  tent  like  the  Arab,  and 
stole  away  as  silently  as  he  had  come. 

The  wisdom  and  greatness  of  the  Empress 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Ruler  43 

Dowager  were  thus  manifested  in  binding  to  the 
throne  the  greatest  men  not  only  in  the  capital  but 
in  the  provinces.  Li  Hung-chang  had  won  his 
title  to  greatness  during  the  Tai-ping  rebellion, 
for  his  part  in  the  final  extinction  of  which  he 
was  ennobled  as  an  Earl.  From  this  time  on- 
ward she  placed  him  in  the  highest  positions  of 
honour  and  power  within  sufficient  proximity  to 
the  capital  to  have  his  services  within  easy  reach. 
For  twenty-four  years  he  was  kept  as  viceroy  of 
the  metropolitan  province  of  Chihli,  with  the 
largest  and  best  drilled  army  at  his  command 
that  China  had  ever  had,  and  yet  during  all  this 
time  he  realized  that  he  was  watched  with  the 
eyes  of  an  eagle  lest  he  manifest  any  signs  of  re- 
bellion, while  his  nephew  was  kept  in  the  capital 
as  a hostage  for  his  good  conduct.  Once  and 
again  when  he  had  reached  the  zenith  of  his 
power,  or  had  been  feted  by  foreign  potentates 
enough  to  turn  the  head  of  a bronze  Buddha, 
his  yellow  jacket  and  peacock  feather  were 
kindly  but  firmly  removed  to  remind  him  that 
there  was  a power  in  Peking  on  whom  he  was 
dependent. 

Li  Hung-chang’s  greatness  made  him  many 
enemies.  Those  whom  he  defeated,  those  whom 
he  would  not  or  could  not  help,  those  whom  he 
punished  or  put  out  of  office,  and  those  whose 
enmity  was  the  result  of  jealousy.  When  the 
war  with  Japan  closed  and  the  Chinese  govern- 


44 


Court  Life  in  China 


ment  sent  Chang  Yin-huan  to  negotiate  a treaty 
of  peace,  the  Japanese  refused  to  accept  him, 
nor  were  they  willing  to  take  up  the  matter  until 
“ Li  Hung-chang  was  appointed  envoy,  chiefly 
because  of  his  great  influence  over  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  respect  in  which  he  was  held  by 
the  people.”  We  all  know  how  he  went,  how  he 
was  shot  in  the  face  by  a Japanese  fanatic,  the 
ball  lodging  under  the  left  eye,  where  it  re- 
mained a memento  which  he  carried  to  the 
grave.  We  all  know  how  he  recovered  from 
the  wound,  and  how  because  of  his  sufferings  he 
was  able  to  negotiate  a better  treaty  than  he 
could  otherwise  have  done.  Then  he  returned 
home,  and  only  “ the  friendship  of  the  Empress 
and  his  own  personal  sufferings  saved  his  life,” 
says  Colonel  Denby,  for  “the  new  treaty  was 
urgently  denounced  in  China”  by  carping  critics 
who  would  not  have  been  recognized  as  envoys 
by  their  Japanese  enemies. 

In  1896  he  was  appointed  to  attend  the  coro- 
nation of  the  Czar  at  Moscow,  and  thence  con- 
tinued his  trip  around  the  world.  Never  before 
nor  since  has  a Chinese  statesman  or  even  a 
prince  been  feted  as  he  was  in  every  country 
through  which  he  passed.  When  he  was  about 
to  start,  at  his  request  I had  a round  fan 
painted  for  him,  with  a map  of  the  Eastern 
hemisphere  on  one  side  and  the  Western  on  the 
other,  on  which  all  the  steamship  lines  and  rail- 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Ruler  45 

roads  over  which  he  was  to  travel  were  clearly 
marked,  with  all  the  ports  and  cities  at  which  he 
expected  to  stop.  He  was  photographed  with 
Gladstone,  and  hailed  as  the  “ Bismarck  of  the 
East,”  but  when  he  returned  to  Peking,  for  no 
reason  but  jealousy,  “ he  was  treated  as  an  extinct 
volcano.”  The  Empress  Dowager  invited  him 
to  the  Summer  Palace  where  he  was  shown  about 
the  place  by  the  eunuchs,  treated  to  tea  and  pipes, 
and  led  into  pavilions  where  only  Her  Majesty 
was  allowed  to  enter,  and  then  denounced  to  the 
Board  of  Punishments  who  were  against  him  to 
a man.  And  now  this  Grand  Secretary  whom 
kings  and  courts  had  honoured,  whom  emperors 
and  presidents  had  feted,  and  our  own  govern- 
ment had  spent  thirty  thousand  dollars  in  enter- 
taining, was  once  more  stripped  of  his  yellow 
jacket  and  peacock  feather,  and  fined  the  half 
of  a year’s  salary  as  a member  of  the  For- 
eign Office,  which  was  the  amusing  sum  of 
forty-five  taels  or  about  thirty-five  dollars  gold, 
and  it  was  said  in  Peking  at  the  time  that 
only  the  intercession  of  the  Empress  Dowager 
saved  him  from  imprisonment  or  further  dis- 
grace. 

During  the  whole  regency  of  the  Empress 
Dowager  only  two  men  have  occupied  the  posi- 
tion of  President  of  the  Grand  Council — Prince 
Kung  and  Prince  Ching.  While  the  former  was 
degraded  many  times  and  had  his  honours  all 


Court  Life  in  China 


46 

taken  from  him,  the  latter  “ has  kept  himself  on 
top  of  a rolling  log  for  thirty  years  ” without 
losing  any  of  the  honours  which  were  originally 
conferred  upon  him.  The  same  is  true  of 
Chang  Chih-tung,  Liu  Kun-yi  and  Wang  Wen- 
shao,  three  great  viceroys  and  Grand  Secretaries 
whom  the  Empress  Dowager  has  never  allowed 
to  be  without  an  important  ofhce,  but  whom  she 
has  never  degraded.  Need  we  ask  the  reason 
why?  The  answer  is  not  far  to  seek.  They 
were  the  most  eminent  progressive  officials  she 
had  in  her  empire,  but  none  of  them  were  great 
enough  to  be  a menace  to  her  dynasty,  and 
hence  need  not  be  reminded  that  there  was  a 
power  above  them  which  by  a stroke  of  her  pen 
could  transfer  them  from  stars  in  the  official 
firmament  to  dandelions  in  the  grass.  Not  so 
with  Yuan  Shih-kai — but  we  will  speak  of  him 
in  another  chapter. 

All  the  great  officials  thus  far  mentioned  have 
belonged  to  the  progressive  rather  than  the  con- 
servative party,  all  of  them  the  favourites  of  the 
Empress  Dowager,  placed  in  positions  of  in- 
fluence and  kept  in  office  by  her,  all  of  them 
working  for  progress  and  reform,  and  yet  she 
has  been  constantly  spoken  of  by  European 
writers  as  a reactionary.  Nothing  could  be 
farther  from  the  truth,  as  we  shall  see.  Never- 
theless she  kept  some  of  the  great  conservative 
J^-ofhcials  in  office  either  as  viceroys  or  Grand 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Ruler  47 

Secretaries  that  she  might  be  able  to  hear  both 
sides  of  all  important  questions. 

One  of  these  conservatives  was  Jung  Lu,  the 
father-in-law  of  the  present  Regent.  When  she 
placed  Yiian  Shih-kai  in  charge  of  the  army  of 
north  China,  she  also  appointed  Jung  Lu  as 
Governor-General  of  the  metropolitan  province 
of  Chihli.  One  was  a progressive,  the  other  a 
conservative.  Neither  could  make  any  impor- 
tant move  without  the  knowledge  and  consent  of 
the  other.  Whether  the  Empress  Dowager  fore- 
saw the  danger  that  was  likely  to  arise,  we  do 
not  know,  but  she  provided  against  it.  We 
refer  to  the  occasion  when  in  1898  the  Emperor 
ordered  Yiian  Shih-kai  to  bring  his  troops  to 
Peking,  guard  the  Empress  Dowager  a prisoner 
in  the  Summer  Palace,  and  protect  him  in  his 
efforts  at  reform.  The  story  belongs  in  another 
chapter,  but  we  refer  to  it  here  to  show  how  the 
Empress  Dowager  played  one  official  against 
another,  and  one  party  against  another,  to  pre- 
vent any  such  calamity  or  surprise.  It  would 
have  been  impossible  for  Yuan  Shih-kai  to  have 
taken  his  troops  to  Peking  for  any  purpose  with- 
out first  informing  his  superior  officer  Jung  Lu 
unless  he  put  him  to  death,  much  less  to  have 
gone  on  such  a mission  as  that  of  imprisoning  as 
important  a personage  as  the  Empress  Dowager, 
to  whom  they  were  both  indebted  for  their  office. 

Another  instance  of  the  way  in  which  the 


Court  Life  in  China 


48 

Empress  Dowager  played  one  party  against 
another  was  the  appointment  of  Prince  Tuan  as 
a member  of  the  Foreign  Office.  After  his  son 
had  been  selected  as  the  heir-apparent  it  seemed 
to  the  Empress  Dowager  that  for  his  own  edu- 
cation and  development  he  should  be  made  to 
come  in  contact  with  the  foreigners.  Most  of 
the  foreigners  considered  the  appointment  ob- 
jectionable on  account  of  the  “ Prince’s  anti- 
foreign  tendencies.  But  to  my  mind,”  says  Sir 
Robert  Hart,  “ it  was  a good  one  ; the  Empress 
Dowager  had  probably  said  to  the  Prince,  ‘ You 
and  your  party  pull  one  way.  Prince  Ching  and 
his  another — what  am  I to  do  between  you  ? 
You,  however,  are  the  father  of  the  future 
Emperor,  and  have  your  son’s  interests  to  take 
care  of ; you  are  also  head  of  the  Boxers  and 
chief  of  the  Peking  Field  'Force,  and  ought 
therefore  to  know  what  can  and  what  cannot 
be  done.  I therefore  appoint  you  to  the  yamen  ; 
do  what  you  consider  most  expedient,  and  take 
care  that  the  throne  of  your  ancestors  descends 
untarnished  to  your  son,  and  their  empire  un- 
diminished ! yours  is  the  power, — yours  the  re- 
sponsibility— and  yours  the  chief  interests  1 ’ I 
can  imagine  the  Empress  Dowager  taking  this 
line  with  the  Prince,  and,  inasmuch  as  various 
ministers  who  had  been  very  anti-foreign  before 
entering  the  yamen  had  turned  round  and  be- 
haved very  sensibly  afterwards,  I felt  sure  that 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Ruler  49 

responsibility  and  actual  personal  dealings  with 
foreigners  would  be  a good  experience  and  a 
useful  education  for  this  Prince,  and  that  he 
would  eventually  be  one  of  the  sturdiest  sup- 
porters of  progress  and  good  relations.” 


% 


The  Empress 


IV 

Dowager — As  a Reactionist 


The  most  interesting  personage  in  China  during  the 
past  thirty  years  has  been  and  still  is  without  doubt  the 
lady  whom  we  style  the  Empress  Dowager.  The  char- 
acter of  the  Empress’s  rule  can  only  be  judged  by  what 
it  was  during  the  regency,  when  she  was  at  the  head  of 
every  movement  that  partook  of  the  character  of  reform. 
Foreign  diplomacy  has  failed,  for  want  of  a definite  centre 
of  volition  and  sensation  to  act  upon.  It  had  no  fulcrum 
for  its  lever.  Hence  only  force  has  ever  succeeded  in 
China.  With  a woman  like  the  Empress  might  it  not  be 
possible  really  to  transact  business  ? 

— Blackwood's  Magazine. 


IV 


THE  EMPRESS  DOWAGER— AS  A REACTIONIST 

IT  was  between  November  i,  1897,  and  April 
16,  1898,  that  Germany,  Russia,  France  and 
England  wrested  from  the  weak  hands  of 
the  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii  the  four  best  ports  in 
the  Chinese  empire,  leaving  China  without  a 
place  to  rendezvous  a fleet.  The  whole  empire 
was  aroused  to  indignation,  and  even  in  our 
Christian  schools,  every  essay,  oration,  dialogue 
or  debate  was  a discussion  of  some  phase  of  the 
subject,  “ How  to  reform  and  strengthen  China.” 
The  students  all  thought,  the  young  reformers  all 
thought,  and  the  foreigners  all  thought  that 
Kuang  Hsii  had  struck  the  right  track.  The 
great  Chinese  officials,  however,  were  in  doubt, 
and  it  was  because  of  their  doubt — progressives 
as  well  as  conservatives — that  the  Empress 
Dowager  was  again  called  to  the  throne. 

Now  may  I request  the  enemies  of  the  Empress 
Dowager  to  ask  themselves  what  they  would 
have  done  if  they  had  been  placed  at  the  head  of 
their  own  government  v/hen  it  was  thus  being 
filched  from  them  ? You  say  she  was  anti-foreign 
— would  you  have  been  very  much  in  love  with 
Germany,  Russia,  France  and  England  under 

S3 


54 


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those  circumstances  ? That  she  acted  unwisely 
in  placing  herself  in  the  hands  of  the  conserva- 
tives and  allying  herself  with  the  superstitious 
Boxers,  we  must  all  frankly  admit.  But  what 
would  you  have  done  ? Might  you  not — I do  not 
say  you  would  with  your  intelligence — but  might 
you  not  have  been  induced  to  have  clutched  at  as 
great  a log  as  the  patriotic  Boxers  seemed  to  pre- 
sent, if  you  had  been  as  near  drowning  as  she  was  ? 

“ It  is  generally  supposed,”  says  one  of  her 
critics,  “that  Kang  Yu-wei  suggested  to  the  Em- 
peror, that  if  he  would  render  his  own  position 
secure,  he  must  retire  the  Empress  Dowager,  and 
decapitate  Jung  Lu.”  If  that  be  true,  and  I think 
it  very  reasonable,  the  condition  must  have  been 
desperate,  when  the  reformers  had  to  begin  kill- 
ing the  greatest  of  their  opponents,  and  impris- 
oning those  who  had  given  them  their  power, 
though  neither  of  these  at  that  time  had  raised  a 
hand  against  them.  Have  you  noticed  how 
ready  we  are  to  forgive  those  on  our  side  for 
doing  that  for  which  we  would  bitterly  condemn 
our  opponents  ? The  same  people  who  condemn 
the  Empress  Dowager  for  beheading  the  six 
young  reformers  stand  ready  to  forgive  Kuang 
Hsii  for  ordering  the  decapitation  of  Jung  Lu,  and 
the  imprisonment  of  his  foster-mother. 

There  were  two  powerful  factions  in  Peking,  the 
progressives,  headed  by  Prince  Ching ; and  the 
conservatives,  headed  by  Jung  Lu.  Now  the 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Reactionist  55 

Empress  Dowager  may  have  reasoned  thus : 
“ The  progressives  and  reformers  have  had  their 
day.  They  have  tried  their  plans  and  they  have 
failed.  The  only  result  they  have  secured  is 
peace — but  peace  always  at  the  expense  of  terri- 
tory. Now  I propose  to  try  another  plan.  I 
will  part  with  no  more  ports,  and  I will  resist  to 
the  death  every  encroachment.”  She  therefore 
took  up  Li  Ping-heng,  who  had  been  deposed 
from  the  governorship  of  Shantung  at  the  time 
of  the  murder  of  the  German  missionaries,  and 
appointed  him  Generalissimo  of  the  forces  of  the 
Yangtse,  where  he  no  doubt  promised  to  resist 
to  the  last  all  encroachments  of  the  foreigners  in 
that  part  of  the  empire  while  Jung  Lu  was  re- 
tained in  Peking  as  head  of  all  the  forces  of  the 
province  of  Chihli  and  the  Northern  Squadron. 
She  then  appointed  Kang  Yi,  another  conserva- 
tive, equally  as  anti-foreign  as  Li  Ping-heng,  to 
inspect  the  fortifications  and  garrisons  of  the  em- 
pire, and  to  raise  an  immense  sum  of  money  for 
the  depleted  treasury.  In  his  visits  to  the  south- 
ern provinces,  Kang  Yi  at  this  time  raised  not 
less  than  two  million  taels,  which  was  no  doubt 
spent  in  the  purchase  of  guns  and  ammunition 
and  other  preparations  for  war.  Yii  Hsien,  another 
equally  conservative  Manchu,  she  appointed 
Governor  of  Shantung  to  succeed  Li  Ping-heng, 
and  it  is  to  him  the  whole  Boxer  uprising  is  due. 
Moreover  when  he,  at  the  repeated  requests  of 


56  Court  Life  in  China 

the  foreigners,  was  removed  from  Shantung,  she 
received  him  in  audience  at  Peking,  conferred 
upon  him  additional  honours  and  appointed  him 
Governor  of  the  adjoining  province  of  Shansi, 
where,  and  under  whose  jurisdiction,  almost  all 
the  massacres  were  committed.  Indeed  Yii 
Hsien  may  be  considered  the  whole  Boxer  move- 
ment, for  this  seems  to  have  been  his  plan  for 
getting  rid  of  the  foreigners. 

But  while  thus  allying  herself  with  the  conserv- 
atives, the  Empress  Dowager  did  not  cut  herself 
off  from  the  progressives.  Li  Hung-chang  was 
appointed  Viceroy  of  Kuangtung,  Yiian  Shih-kai 
Governor  of  Shantung  and  Tuan  Fang  of  Shensi 
while  Liu  Kun-yi,  Chang  Chih-tung,  and  Kuei 
Chun  were  kept  at  their  posts,  so  that  she  had 
all  the  greatest  men  of  both  parties  once  more  in 
her  service.  Then  she  began  sending  out  edicts, 
retracting  those  issued  by  Kuang  Hsii,  and  what 
could  be  more  considerate  of  the  feelings  of  the 
Emperor,  or  more  diplomatic  as  a state  paper 
than  the  following,  issued  in  the  name  of  Kuang 
Hsii,  September  26,  1898, 

“ Our  real  desire  was  to  make  away  with  su- 
perfluous posts  for  the  sake  of  economy : whereas, 
on  the  contrary,  we  find  rumours  flying  abroad 
that  we  intended  to  change  wholesale  the  cus- 
toms of  the  empire,  and,  in  consequence,  innu- 
merable impossible  suggestions  of  reform  have 
been  presented  to  us.  If  we  allowed  this  to  go 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Reactionist  57 

on,  none  of  us  would  know  to  what  pass  matters 
would  come.  Hence,  unless  we  hasten  to  put 
our  present  wishes  clearly  before  all,  we  greatly 
fear  that  the  petty  yamen  officials  and  their  un- 
derlings will  put  their  own  construction  on  what 
commands  have  gone  before,  and  create  a fer- 
ment in  the  midst  of  the  usual  calm  of  the  people. 
This  will  indeed  be  contrary  to  our  desire,  and 
put  our  reforms  for  strengthening  and  enriching 
our  empire  to  naught. 

“We  therefore  hereby  command  that  the 
Supervisorate  of  Instruction  and  other  five  minor 
Courts  and  Boards,  which  were  recently  abol- 
ished by  us  and  their  duties  amalgamated  with 
other  Boards  for  the  sake  of  economy,  etc.,  be 
forthwith  restored  to  their  original  state  and  du- 
ties, because  we  have  learned  that  the  process  of 
amalgamation  contains  many  difficulties  and  will 
require  too  much  labour.  We  think,  therefore, 
it  is  best  that  these  offices  be  not  abolished  at  all, 
there  being  no  actual  necessity  for  doing  this. 
As  for  the  provincial  bureaus  and  official  posts 
ordered  to  be  abolished,  the  work  in  this  connec- 
tion can  go  on  as  usual,  and  the  viceroys  and 
governors  are  exhorted  to  work  earnestly  and 
diligently  in  the  above  duty.  Again  as  to  the 
edict  ordering  the  establishment  of  an  official 
newspaper,  the  Chinese  Progress,  and  the  privi- 
lege granted  to  all  scholars  and  commoners  to 
memorialize  us  on  reforms,  etc.,  this  was  issued 


58  Court  Life  in  China 

in  order  that  a way  might  be  opened  by  which 
we  could  come  into  touch  with  our  subjects,  high 
and  low.  But  as  we  have  also  given  extra  liberty 
to  our  censors  and  high  officers  to  report  to  us 
on  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  people  and  their 
government,  any  reforms  necessary,  suggested 
by  these  officers,  will  be  attended  to  at  once  by 
us.  Hence  we  consider  that  our  former  edict 
allowing  all  persons  to  report  to  us  is,  for  obvi- 
ous reasons,  superfluous,  with  the  present  legiti- 
mate machinery  at  hand.  And  we  now  command 
that  the  privilege  be  withdrawn,  and  only  the 
proper  officers  be  permitted  to  report  to  us  as  to 
what  is  going  on  in  our  empire.  As  for  the  news- 
paper Chinese  Progress^  it  is  really  of  no  use  to 
the  government,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  will 
excite  the  masses  to  evil ; hence  we  command 
the  said  paper  to  be  suppressed. 

“ With  regard  to  the  proposed  Peking  Uni- 
versity and  the  middle  schools  in  the  provincial 
capitals,  they  may  go  on  as  usual,  as  they  are  a 
nursery  for  the  perfection  of  true  ability  and  tal- 
ents. But  with  reference  to  the  lower  schools  in 
the  sub-prefectures  and  districts  there  need  be  no 
compulsion,  full  liberty  being  given  to  the  people 
thereof  to  do  wffiat  they  please  in  this  connec- 
tion. As  for  the  unofficial  Buddhist,  Taoist, 
and  memorial  temples  which  w'ere  ordered  to 
be  turned  into  district  schools,  etc.,  so  long  as 
these  institutions  have  not  broken  the  laws  by 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Reactionist  59 

any  improper  conduct  of  the  inmates,  or  the  dei- 
ties worshipped  in  them  are  not  of  the  seditious 
kind,  they  are  hereby  excused  from  the  edict 
above  noted.  At  the  present  moment,  when  the 
country  is  undergoing  a crisis  of  danger  and 
difficulty,  we  must  be  careful  of  what  may  be 
done,  or  what  may  not,  and  select  only  such 
measures  as  may  be  really  of  benefit  to  the 
empire.” 

I submit  the  above  edict  to  the  reader  request- 
ing him  to  study  it,  and,  if  necessary  to  its  un- 
derstanding, to  copy  it,  and  see  if  the  Empress 
Dowager  has  not  preserved  the  best  there  is  in 
it,  viz.,  “ the  Peking  University,  and  the  middle 
schools  in  the  provincial  capitals,”  “ full  liberty 
being  given  to  the  people  with  reference  to  the 
lower  schools  in  the  sub-prefectures  and  districts 
to  do  as  they  please.”  How  much  oil  would  be 
cast  on  how  many  troubled  waters  can  only  be 
realized  by  the  unfortunate  priests  and  dismissed 
officials  and  people  upon  whom  “ there  need  be 
no  compulsion  ” ! 

Three  days  after  the  foregoing,  on  September 
29th,  she  issued  another  edict  purporting  to 
come  from  the  Emperor,  ordering  the  punish- 
ment of  Kang  Yu-wei  and  others  of  his  confreres. 
Now,  if  it  is  true  that  Kang  Yu-wei  advised  the 
Emperor  to  behead  Jung  Lu  and  imprison  the 
Empress  Dowager,  for  no  cause  whatsoever, 
how  would  you  have  been  inclined  to  treat  him 


6o 


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supposing  you  had  been  in  her  place  ? The  de- 
cree says : 

“ All  know  that  we  try  to  rule  this  empire  by 
our  filial  piety  towards  the  Empress  Dowager ; 
but  Kang  Yu-wei’s  doctrines  have  always  been 
opposed  to  the  ancient  Confucian  tenets. 
Owing,  however,  to  the  ability  shown  by  the 
said  Kang  Yu-wei  in  modern  and  practical  mat- 
ters, we  sought  to  take  advantage  of  it  by  ap- 
pointing him  a secretary  of  the  Foreign  Office, 
and  subsequently  ordered  him  to  Shanghai  to 
direct  the  management  of  the  official  newspaper 
there.  Instead  of  this,  however,  he  dared  to  re- 
main in  Peking  pursuing  his  nefarious  designs 
against  the  dynasty,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the 
protection  given  by  the  spirits  of  our  ancestors 
he  certainly  would  have  succeeded.  Kang  Yu- 
wei  is  therefore  the  arch  conspirator,  and  his 
chief  assistant  is  Liang  Chi-tsao,  M.  A.,  and  they 
are  both  to  be  immediately  arrested  and  punished 
for  the  crime  of  rebellion.  The  other  principal 
conspirators,  namely,  the  Censor  Yang  Shen- 
hsin,  Kang  Kuang-jen — the  brother  of  Kang 
Yu-wei — and  the  four  secretaries  of  the  Tsungli 
Yamen,  Tan  Sze-tung,  Liu  Hsin,  Yang  Jui,  and 
Liu  Kuang-ti,  we  immediately  ordered  to  be 
arrested  and  imprisoned  by  the  Board  of  Pun- 
ishments: but  fearing  that  if  any  delay  ensued 
in  sentencing  them  they  would  endeavour  to  en- 
tangle a number  of  others,  we  accordingly  com- 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Reactionist  6i 

manded  yesterday  (September  28th)  their  imme- 
diate execution,  so  as  to  close  the  matter  entirely 
and  prevent  further  troubles.” 

This  with  the  execution  of  one  or  two  other 
officials  is  the  greatest  crime  that  can  be  laid  at 
the  door  of  the  Empress  Dowager — great 
enough  in  all  conscience — yet  not  to  be  com- 
pared to  those  of  ” good  Queen  Bess.” 

We  now  come  to  what  is  said  to  have  been  a 
secret  edict  issued  by  the  Empress  Dowager  to 
her  viceroys,  governors,  Tartar  generals  and  the 
commanders-in-chief  of  the  provinces,  dated 
November  21,  1899.  And  this  I regard  as  one 
of  the  greatest  and  most  daring  things  that 
great  woman  ever  undertook. 

After  the  Empress  Dowager  had  taken  the 
throne,  Italy,  following  the  example  set  by  the 
other  powers,  demanded  the  cession  of  Sanmen 
Bay  in  the  province  of  Chekiang.  But  she 
found  a different  ruler  on  the  throne,  and  to  her 
great  surprise,  as  well  as  that  of  every  one  else, 
China  returned  a stubborn  refusal.  Moreover, 
she  began  to  prepare  to  resist  the  demand,  and 
it  soon  became  evident  that  to  obtain  it,  Italy 
must  go  to  war.  This  she  had  not  the  stomach 
for  and  so  the  demand  was  withdrawn.  This 
explanation  will  go  far  towards  helping  us  to 
understand  the  following  secret  edict  of  No- 
vember 2 1 St,  to  which  I have  already  referred. 

“ Our  empire  is  now  labouring  under  great 


62 


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difficulties  which  are  becoming  daily  more  and 
more  serious.  The  various  Powers  cast  upon 
us  looks  of  tiger-like  voracity,  hustling  each 
other  in  their  endeavours  to  be  the  first  to  seize 
upon  our  innermost  territories.  They  think  that 
China,  having  neither  money  nor  troops,  would 
never  venture  to  go  to  war  with  them.  They 
fail  to  understand,  however,  that  there  are  cer- 
tain things  that  this  empire  can  never  consent 
to,  and  that,  if  hardly  pressed  upon,  we  have 
no  alternative  but  to  rely  upon  the  justice  of  our 
cause,  the  knowledge  of  which  in  our  breasts 
strengthens  our  resolves  and  steels  us  to  present 
a united  front  against  our  aggressors.  No  one 
can  guarantee,  under  such  circumstances,  who 
will  be  the  victor  and  who  the  vanquished  in 
the  end.  But  there  is  an  evil  habit  which  has 
become  almost  a custom  among  our  viceroys 
and  governors  which,  however,  must  be  eradi- 
cated at  all  costs.  For  instance,  whenever 
these  high  officials  have  had  on  their  hands 
cases  of  international  dispute,  all  their  actions 
seem  to  be  guided  by  the  belief  in  their  breasts 
that  such  cases  would  eventually  be  ‘ amicably 
arranged.’  These  words  seem  never  to  be  out 
of  their  thoughts : hence,  when  matters  do  come 
to  a crisis,  they,  of  course,  find  themselves 
utterly  unprepared  to  resist  any  hostile  aggres- 
sions on  the  part  of  the  foreigner.  We,  indeed, 
consider  this  the  most  serious  failure  in  the  duty 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Reactionist  63 

which  the  highest  provincial  authorities  owe  to 
the  throne,  and  we  now  find  it  incumbent  upon 
ourselves  to  censure  such  conduct  in  the  most 
severe  terms. 

“ It  is  our  special  command,  therefore,  that 
should  any  high  official  find  himself  so  hard 
pressed  by  circumstances  that  nothing  short  of 
war  would  settle  matters,  he  is  expected  to  set 
himself  resolutely  to  work  out  his  duty  to  this 
end.  Or,  perhaps,  it  would  be  that  war  has 
already  actually  been  declared ; under  such 
circumstances  there  is  no  possible  chance  of  the 
imperial  government  consenting  to  an  imme- 
diate conference  for  the  restoration  of  peace.  It 
behooves,  therefore,  that  our  viceroys,  governors, 
and  commanders-in-chief  throughout  the  whole 
empire  unite  forces  and  act  together  without 
distinction  or  particularizing  of  jurisdictions  so 
as  to  present  a combined  front  to  the  enemy, 
exhorting  and  encouraging  their  officers  and 
soldiers  in  person  to  fight  for  the  preservation 
of  their  homes  and  native  soil  from  the  en- 
croaching footsteps  of  the  foreign  aggressor. 
Never  should  the  word  ‘Peace’  fall  from  the 
mouths  of  our  high  officials,  nor  should  they 
even  allow  it  to  rest  for  a moment  within  their 
breasts.  With  such  a country  as  ours,  with  her 
vast  area,  stretching  out  several  tens  of  thousands 
of  /?',  her  immense  natural  resources,  and  her 
hundreds  of  millions  of  inhabitants,  if  only  each 


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64 

and  all  of  you  would  prove  his  loyalty  to  his 
Emperor  and  love  of  country,  what,  indeed,  is 
there  to  fear  from  any  invader  ? Let  no  one 
think  of  making  peace,  but  let  each  strive  to 
preserve  from  destruction  and  spoliation  his 
ancestral  home  and  graves  from  the  ruthless 
hands  of  the  invader.” 

One  of  her  critics,  referring  to  the  last  sen- 
tence of  the  above  edict,  asks  : ” Do  not  these 

words  throw  down  the  gauntlet  ? ” And  we 
answer,  yes.  Did  not  the  thirteen  colonies 
throw  down  the  gauntlet  to  England  for  less 
cause?  Did  not  Japan  throw  down  the  gauntlet 
to  Russia  for  less  cause  than  the  Empress 
Dowager  had  for  desiring  that  “each  strive  to 
preserve  from  destruction  and  spoliation  his  an- 
cestral home  and  graves  ” ? It  was  not  for  con- 
quest but  for  self-preservation  the  Empress 
Dowager  was  ready  to  go  to  war  ; not  for  glory 
but  for  home  ; not  against  a taunting  neighbour, 
but  against  a “ ruthless  invader.”  Her  un- 
wisdom did  not  consist  in  her  being  ready  to  go 
to  war,  but  in  allowing  herself  to  be  allied  to, 
and  depend  upon,  the  superstitious  rabble  of 
Boxers,  and  to  believe  that  her  “ hundreds  of 
millions  ” of  undisciplined  “ inhabitants  ” could 
withstand  the  thousands  or  tens  of  thousands 
of  well-drilled,  well-led,  intelligent  soldiers  from 
the  West. 

That  she  was  ready  to  go  to  war  rather  than 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Reactionist  65" 

weakly  yield  to  the  demands  for  territory  from 
the  European  powers  is  further  evidenced  by 
the  following  edict  issued  by  the  Tsungli  Yamen 
to  the  viceroys  and  governors  : 

“ This  yamen  has  received  the  special  com- 
mands of  her  Imperial  Majesty  the  Empress 
Dowager,  and  his  Imperial  Majesty  the  Em- 
peror, to  grant  you  full  power  and  liberty  to  re- 
sist by  force  of  arms  all  aggressions  upon  your 
several  jurisdictions,  proclaiming  a state  of  war, 
if  necessary,  without  first  asking  instructions  from 
Peking  ; for  this  loss  of  time  may  be  fatal  to  your 
security,  and  enable  the  enemy  to  make  good  his 
footing  against  your  forces.” 

In  order  to  strengthen  her  position  she  ap- 
pointed two  commissioners  whom  she  sent  to  Ja- 
pan in  the  hope  of  forming  a secret  defensive 
alliance  with  that  nation  against  the  White  Peril 
from  the  West.  For  once,  however,  she  made  a 
mistake  in  the  selection  of  her  men,  for  these 
commissioners,  unlike  what  we  usually  find  the 
yellow  man,  revealed  too  much  of  the  important 
mission  on  which  they  were  bent,  and  were  re- 
called in  disgrace,  and  the  treaty  came  to  naught. 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Reformer 


Taught  by  the  failure  of  a reaction  on  which  she  had 
staked  her  life  and  her  throne,  the  Dowager  has  become  a 
convert  to  the  policy  of  progress.  She  has,  in  fact,  out- 
stripped her  nephew.  “Long  may  she  live!”  “Late 
may  she  rule  us  ! ” During  her  lifetime  she  may  be  counted 
on  to  carry  forward  the  cause  she  has  so  ardently  es- 
poused. She  grasps  the  reins  with  a firm  hand ; and  her 
courage  is  such  that  she  does  not  hesitate  to  drive  the 
chariot  of  state  over  many  a new  and  untried  road.  She 
knows  she  can  rely  on  the  support  of  her  viceroys — men 
of  her  own  appointment.  She  knows  too  that  the  spirit  of 
reform  is  abroad  in  the  land,  and  that  the  heart  of  the 
people  is  with  her. 

— W.  A.  P.  Martin  in  “ The  Awakening  of  China.” 


V 


THE  EMPRESS  DOWAGER— AS  A REFORMER 

IN  June,  1902,  soon  after  the  return  of  the 
court  from  Hsian  to  Peking,  a company  of 
ladies  from  the  various  legations  in  Peking 
who  had  received  invitations  to  an  audience  and 
a banquet  with  the  Empress  Dowager  were  asked 
to  meet  at  one  of  the  legations  for  the  purpose  of 
consultation.  The  meeting  was  unusual.  Many 
of  those  who  were  present  had  no  higher  motive 
than  the  ordinary  tourist  who  goes  sightseeing. 
With  the  exception  of  one  or  two  who  had  been 
in  once  before,  none  of  these  ladies  had  ever  been 
present  at  an  audience.  Several  of  them  however 
had  passed  through  the  Boxer  siege  of  1900,  had 
witnessed  the  guns  from  the  wall  of  the  Imperial 
City  pouring  shot  and  shell  into  the  British  lega- 
tion, where  they  were  confined  during  those  eight 
memorable  weeks  of  June,  July  and  August,  and 
had  come  out  with  their  hearts  filled  with  resent- 
ment. One  of  them  had  received  a decoration 
from  her  government  for  her  bravery  in  stand- 
ing beside  her  husband  on  the  fortifications  when 
buildings  were  crumbling  and  walls  falling,  and 
her  husband  was  buried  by  an  exploding  mine, 
and  then  vomited  out  unhurt  by  a second  ex- 

69 


7° 


Court  Life  in  China 


plosion.  Among  the  number  were  several  recent 
arrivals  in  Peking  who  had  had  none  of  these 
bitter  experiences,  but  had  heard  much  of  the 
Empress  Dowager,  and  above  all  things  else  they 
were  anxious  to  see  her  whom  they  called  the 
“ She  Dragon.” 

The  presiding  officer  had  been  longest  in  Pe- 
king, and  as  doyen  of  these  diplomatic  ladies,  she 
acted  as  chairman  of  the  meeting.  The  first 
question  to  be  decided  was  the  mode  of  convey- 
ance to  the  “ Forbidden  City.”  Without  much 
discussion  it  was  decided  to  use  the  sedan  chair, 
as  being  the  most  dignified,  and  used  only  by 
Chinese  ladies  of  rank.  The  chairman  then 
called  for  an  expression  of  opinion  as  to  the 
method  of  procedure  in  presentation  to  the  throne. 
One  suggested  that  they  have  no  ceremony 
about  it,  but  all  go  up  to  the  throne  together,  for 
in  this  way  none  would  take  precedence,  but  all 
would  have  an  equal  opportunity  of  satisfying 
their  curiosity  and  scrutinizing  this  female  dragon 
ad  libitum.  Another  said  : “ It  will  be  broiling 
hot  on  that  June  day,  and  it  will  be  better  to  keep 
at  a safe  distance  from  her,  with  plenty  of  guards 
to  protect  us,  or  we  may  be  broiled  in  more  senses 
than  one.”  The  chairman  looked  worried  at 
these  suggestions,  but  still  kept  her  dignity  and 
her  equilibrium.  Then  a mild  voice  suggested 
that  it  was  customary  in  all  audiences  for  those 
presented  to  courtesy  to  the  one  on  the  throne. 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Reformer  71 

“ Courtesy  ! ” broke  in  an  indignant  voice,  “ it 
would  be  more  appropriate  for  her  to  prostrate 
herself  at  our  feet  and  beg  us  to  forgive  her  for 
trying  to  shoot  us,  than  for  us  to  courtesy  to  her.” 
It  was  finally  decided,  however,  that  the  same 
formalities  be  observed  as  were  followed  by  the 
ministers  when  received  at  court.  I give  these 
incidents  to  show  the  temper  that  prevailed  among 
the  members  of  some  of  the  legations  at  Peking 
at  the  time  of  this  first  audience. 

“When  a few  days  later  we  followed  the  long  line 
of  richly-robed  princesses  into  the  audience-hall, 
all  this  was  changed.  As  we  looked  at  the  Empress 
Dowager  seated  upon  her  throne  on  a raised  dais, 
with  the  Emperor  to  her  left  and  members  of  the 
Grand  Council  kneeling  beside  her,  and  these 
dignified,  stately  princesses  courtesying  until  their 
knees  touched  the  floor,  we  forgot  the  resentful 
feeling  expressed  in  the  meeting  a few  days  be- 
fore, and,  awed  by  her  majestic  bearing  and  sur- 
roundings, we  involuntarily  gave  the  three  courte- 
sies required  from  those  entering  the  imperial 
presence.  We  could  not  but  feel  that  this  stately 
woman  who  sat  upon  the  throne  was  every  inch 
an  empress.  In  her  hands  rested  the  weal  or 
woe  of  one-third  of  the  human  race.  Her  bril- 
liant black  eyes  seemed  to  read  our  thoughts. 
Indeed  she  prides  herself  upon  the  fact  that  at  a 
glance  she  can  read  the  character  of  every  one 
that  appears  before  her.” 


72 


Court  Life  in  China 


After  the  ladies  had  taken  their  position  in 
order  of  their  rank,  the  doyen  presented  their 
good  wishes  to  Her  Majesty,  which  was  replied 
to  by  a few  gracious  words  from  the  throne. 
Each  lady’s  name  was  then  announced  and  as 
she  was  formally  presented  she  ascended  the 
dais,  and  as  she  courtesied,  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager extended  her  hand  which  she  took,  and  then 
passed  to  the  left  to  be  introduced  in  a similar 
way  to  the  Emperor. 

It  was  thus  she  began  her  reforms  in  the  cus- 
toms of  the  court,  which  up  to  this  time  had  kept 
her  ever  behind  the  screen,  compelled  to  wield 
the  sceptre  from  her  place  of  concealment,  equally 
shut  out  from  the  eyes  of  the  world  and  blind  to 
the  needs  of  her  people.  Up  to  her  time  the 
people  and  the  nation  were  the  slaves  of  age-old 
customs,  but  before  the  power  of  her  personality 
rites  and  ceremonies  became  the  servants  of  the 
people.  In  the  words  of  the  poet  she  seemed  to 
feel  that 

“ Rules 

Are  well ; but  never  fear  to  break 
The  scaffolding  of  other  souls ; 

It  was  not  meant  for  thee  to  mount, 

Though  it  may  serve  thee.” 

Without  taking  away  from  the  Emperor  the 
credit  of  introducing  the  railroad,  the  telegraph, 
the  telephone,  the  new  system  of  education,  and 
many  other  reforms,  we  must  still  admit  that  it 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Reformer  73 

was  the  personality,  power  and  statesmanship  of 
the  Empress  Dowager  that  brought  about  the 
realization  of  his  dreams.  The  movement  to- 
wards female  education  as  described  in  another 
chapter  must  ever  be  placed  to  the  credit  of  this 
great  woman.  From  the  time  she  came  from 
behind  the  screen,  and  allowed  her  portrait  to  be 
painted,  the  freedom  of  woman  was  assured. 

One  day  when  calling  at  the  American  lega- 
tion I was  shown  two  large  photographs  of  Her 
Majesty.  One  some  three  feet  square  was  to  be 
sent  to  President  Roosevelt,  the  other  was  a gift 
to  Major  Conger.  Similar  photographs  had  been 
sent  to  all  the  ministers  and  rulers  represented 
at  Peking,  and  I said  to  myself ; “ The  Empress 
Dowager  is  shrewd.  She  knows  that  false  pic- 
tures of  her  have  gone  forth.  She  knows  that 
the  painted  portrait  is  not  a good  likeness,  and 
so  she  proposes  to  have  genuine  pictures  in  the 
possession  of  all  civilized  governments.”  This 
shrewdness  was  not  necessarily  native  on  her 
part,  but  was  engendered  by  the  arguments  that 
had  been  used  by  those  who  induced  her  to  be 
the  first  Chinese  monarch  to  have  her  portrait 
painted  by  a foreign  artist. 

A few  years  ago  the  Empress  Dowager  had  a 
dream,  which,  like  every  act  of  hers,  was  greater 
than  any  of  those  of  her  brilliant  nephew.  This 
dream  was  to  give  a constitution  to  China.  Of 
course,  if  this  were  done  it  would  have  to  be  by 


74 


Court  Life  in  China 


the  Manchus,  as  the  government  was  theirs,  and 
any  radical  changes  that  were  made  would  have 
to  be  made  by  the  people  in  power.  The  Em- 
press Dowager,  however,  wanted  the  honour  of 
this  move  to  reflect  upon  herself,  and  hoped  to 
be  able  to  bring  it  to  a successful  issue  during 
her  lifetime. 

There  was  strenuous  opposition,  and  this  most 
vigorous  in  the  party  in  which  she  had  placed 
herself  when  she  dethroned  Kuang  Hsii.  The 
conservatives  regarded  this  as  the  wildest  venture 
that  had  yet  been  made,  and  were  ready  to  use 
all  their  influence  to  prevent  it ; nevertheless  the 
Empress  Dowager  called  to  her  aid  the  greatest 
and  most  progressive  of  the  Manchus,  the  Vice- 
roy Tuan  Fang,  and  appointed  him  head  of  a 
commission  which  she  proposed  to  send  on  a 
tour  of  the  world  to  examine  carefully  the  various 
forms  of  government,  with  the  purpose  of  advi- 
sing her,  on  their  return,  as  to  the  possibility  of 
giving  a constitution  to  China. 

A special  train  was  provided  to  take  the  com- 
mission from  Peking  to  Tientsin.  It  was  drawn 
up  at  the  station  just  outside  the  gate  in  front  of 
the  Emperor’s  palace.  The  commission  had 
entered  the  car,  and  the  narrow  hall  or  aisle 
along  the  side  was  crowded  with  those  who  had 
come  to  see  them  off,  when,  ba7ig,  there  was  an 
explosion,  the  side  of  the  car  was  blown  out, 
several  were  injured,  including  slight  wounds  to 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Reformer  75 

some  of  the  members  of  the  commission,  and 
the  man  carrying  the  bomb  was  blown  into  an 
unrecognizable  mass.  For  a few  days  the  city 
was  in  an  uproar.  Guards  were  placed  at  all  the 
gates,  especially  those  leading  to  the  palace,  and 
every  possible  effort  was  made  to  identify  the 
nihilist.  But  as  all  efforts  failed,  and  nothing 
further  transpired  to  indicate  that  he  had  accom- 
plices, the  commission  separated  and  departing 
individually  without  display,  reunited  at  Tien- 
tsin and  started  on  their  tour  of  inspection. 

This  commission  was  splendidly  entertained 
wherever  it  went,  given  every  possible  oppor- 
tunity to  examine  the  constitutions  of  the  coun- 
tries through  which  it  passed,  and  on  its  return 
to  Peking  the  report  of  the  trip  was  published  in 
one  hundred  and  twenty  volumes,  the  most  im- 
portant item  of  which  was  that  a constitution, 
modelled  after  that  of  Japan,  should  be  given  to 
China  at  as  early  a date  as  possible. 

The  leader  of  this  expedition,  His  Excellency 
the  Viceroy  Tuan  Fang,  is  one  of  the  greatest,  if 
not  the  greatest  living  Manchu  statesman. 
Like  Yiian  Shih-kai,  during  the  Boxer  uprising, 
he  protected  all  the  foreigners  within  his  do- 
mains. That  he  appreciates  the  work  done  by 
Americans  in  the  opening  up  of  China  is 
evidenced  by  a statement  made  in  his  address  at 
the  Waldorf  Astoria,  in  February,  1906,  in 
which  he  said : 


Court  Life  in  China 


76 

“We  take  pleasure  this  evening  in  bearing 
testimony  to  the  part  taken  by  American  mis- 
sionaries in  promoting  the  progress  of  the 
Chinese  people.  They  have  borne  the  light  of 
Western  civilization  into  every  nook  and  corner 
of  the  empire.  They  have  rendered  inestimable 
service  to  China  by  the  laborious  task  of  trans- 
lating into  the  Chinese  language  religious  and 
scientific  works  of  the  West.  They  help  us  to 
bring  happiness  and  comfort  to  the  poor  and 
the  suffering,  by  the  establishment  of  hospitals 
and  schools.  The  awakening  of  China,  which 
now  seems  to  be  at  hand,  may  be  traced  in  no 
small  measure  to  the  influence  of  the  missionary. 
For  this  service  you  will  find  China  not  ungrateful.” 

Some  may  think  that  this  was  simply  a senti- 
ment expressed  on  this  particular  occasion  be- 
cause he  happened  to  be  surrounded  by 
secretaries  and  others  interested  in  this  cause. 
That  this  is  not  the  case  is  further  indicated  by 
the  fact  that  since  that  time  he  has  on  two  sepa- 
rate occasions  attended  the  commencement 
exercises  of  the  Nanking  University,  on  one  of 
which  he  addressed  the  students  as  follows  : 

“This  is  the  second  time  I have  attended  the 
commencement  exercises  of  your  school.  I ap- 
preciate the  good  order  I find  here.  I rejoice  at 
the  evidences  I see'  of  your  knowledge  of  the 
proprieties,  the  depth  of  your  learning,  and  the 
character  of  the  students  of  this  institution.  I 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Reformer  77 

am  deeply  grateful  to  the  president  and  faculty 
for  the  goodness  manifested  to  these  my  people. 
I have  seen  evidences  of  it  in  every  detail.  It  is 
my  hope  that  when  these  graduates  go  out  into 
the  world,  they  will  remember  the  love  of  their 
teachers,  and  will  practice  that  virtue  in  their 
dealing  with  others.  The  fundamental  principle 
of  all  great  teachers  whether  of  the  East  or  the 
West  is  love,  and  it  remains  for  you,  young 
gentlemen,  to  practice  this  virtue.  Thus  your 
knowledge  will  be  practical  and  your  talents 
useful.” 

I have  given  these  quotations  as  evidences  of 
the  breadth  of  the  man  whom  the  Empress 
Dowager  selected  as  the  head  of  this  commis- 
sion. It  is  not  generally  known,  however,  that 
Duke  Tse,  another  important  member  of  this 
commission,  is  married  to  a sister  of  the  young 
Empress  Yehonala,  and  consequently  a niece  of 
the  Empress  Dowager.  Such  relations  existed 
between  Her  Majesty  and  the  viceroy,  as  ruler 
and  subject,  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  him 
to  give  her  the  intimate  account  of  their  trip 
that  a relative  could  give.  It  would  be  equally 
impossible,  with  all  her  other  duties,  to  w'ade 
through  a report  such  as  they  published  after 
their  return  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  volumes. 
But  it  would  be  a delight  to  call  in  this  nephew- 
in-law,  and  have  him  sit  or  kneel,  and  may  we  not 
believe  she  allowed  him  to  sit?  and  give  her  a 


78  Court  Life  in  China 

full  and  intimate  account  of  the  trip  and  the 
countries  through  which  they  passed.  She  was 
anxious  that  this  constitution  should  be  given  to 
the  people  before  she  passed  away.  This,  how- 
ever, could  not  be.  Whether  it  will  be  adopted 
within  the  time  allotted  is  a question  which  the 
future  alone  can  answer. 

The  next  great  reform  undertaken  by  the 
Empress  Dowager  was  her  crusade  against 
opium.  The  importance  of  this  can  only  be 
estimated  when  we  consider  the  prevalence  of 
the  use  of  the  drug  throughout  the  empire. 
The  Chinese  tell  us  that  thirty  to  forty  per  cent, 
of  the  adult  population  are  addicted  to  the  use 
of  the  drug. 

One  day  while  walking  along  the  street  in 
Peking,  I passed  a gateway  from  which  there 
came  an  odour  that  was  not  only  offensive  but 
sickening.  I went  on  a little  distance  further 
and  entered  one  of  the  best  curio  shops  of  the 
city,  and  going  into  the  back  room,  I found  the 
odour  of  the  street  emphasized  tenfold,  as  one  of 
the  employees  of  the  firm  had  just  finished  his 
smoke.  I left  this  shop  and  went  to  another 
where  the  proprietor  had  entirely  ruined  his 
business  by  his  use  of  the  drug,  and  it  was 
about  this  time  that  the  Empress  Dowager 
issued  the  following  edict : 

“ Since  the  first  prohibition  of  opium,  almost 
the  whole  of  China  has  been  flooded  with  the 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Reformer  79 

poison.  Smokers  of  opium  have  wasted  their 
time,  neglected  their  employment,  ruined  their 
constitutions,  and  impoverished  their  households. 
For  several  decades  therefore  China  has  presented 
a spectacle  of  increasing  poverty  and  weakness. 
To  merely  mention  the  matter,  arouses  our  indig- 
nation. The  court  has  now  determined  to  make 
China  powerful,  and  to  this  end  we  urge  our 
people  to  reformation  in  this  respect. 

“We,  therefore,  decree  that  within  a limit  of 
ten  years  this  injurious  filth  shall  be  completely 
swept  away.  We  further  order  the  Council  of 
State  to  consider  means  of  prohibition  both  of 
growing  the  poppy  and  smoking  the  opium.” 

The  Council  of  State  at  once  drew  up  regula- 
tions designed  to  carry  out  this  decree.  They 
were  among  others  : 

That  all  opium-smokers  be  required  to  report 
and  take  out  a license. 

Officials  using  the  drug  were  divided  into  two 
classes.  Young  men  must  be  cured  of  the  habit 
within  six  months,  while  for  old  men  no  limit  was 
fixed.  But  both  classes,  while  under  treatment, 
must  furnish  satisfactory  substitutes,  at  their  own 
expense,  to  attend  to  the  duties  of  their  office. 

All  opium  dens  must  be  closed  within  six 
months,  after  which  time  no  opium-pipes  nor 
lamps  may  be  either  made  or  sold.  Though 
shops  for  the  sale  of  the  drug  may  continue  for 
ten  years,  the  limit  of  the  traffic. 


8o 


Court  Life  in  China 


The  government  promises  to  provide  medicine 
for  the  cure  of  the  habit,  and  encourages  the  for- 
mation of  anti-opium  societies,  but  will  not  allow 
these  societies  to  discuss  other  political  matters. 

Next  to  China  Great  Britain  is  the  party  most 
affected  by  this  movement  towards  reform. 
When  this  edict  was  issued  Great  Britain  was 
shipping  annually  fifty  thousand  chests  of  opium 
to  the  Chinese  market,  but  at  once  agreed  that  if 
China  was  sincere  in  her  desire  for  reform,  and 
cut  off  her  own  domestic  productions  at  the  rate 
of  ten  per  cent,  per  annum,  she  would  decrease 
her  trade  at  a similar  rate.  It  is  unfortunate  that 
the  Empress  Dow^ager  should  have  died  before 
this  reform  had  been  carried  to  a successful  cul- 
mination, but  whatever  may  be  the  result  of  the 
movement  the  fact  and  the  credit  of  its  initiation 
will  ever  belong  to  her. 

Such  are  some  of  the  special  reform  measures 
instituted  by  the  Empress  Dow'ager,  but  in  addi- 
tion to  these  she  has  seen  to  it  that  the  Emperor’s 
efforts  to  establish  a Board  of  Railroads,  a Board 
of  Mines,  educational  institutions  on  the  plans  of 
those  of  the  West,  should  all  be  carried  out.  She 
has  not  only  done  away  with  the  old  system  of 
examinations,  but  has  introduced  a new  scheme 
by  which  all  those  who  have  graduated  from 
American  or  European  colleges  may  obtain 
Chinese  degrees  and  be  entitled  to  hold  office 
under  the  government,  by  passing  satisfactory 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Reformer  8i 

examinations,  not  a small  part  of  which  is  the 
diploma  or  diplomas  which  they  hold.  Such  an 
examination  has  already  been  held  and  a large 
number  of  Western  graduates,  most  of  them 
Christian,  were  given  the  Chii-jen  or  Han-lin 
degrees. 


VI 

The  Empress  Dowager — As  an  Artist 


There  is  no  genre  that  the  Chinese  artist  has  not  at- 
tempted. They  have  treated  in  turn  mythological,  relig- 
ious and  historical  subjects  of  every  kind ; they  have 
painted  scenes  of  daily  familiar  life,  as  well  as  those  in- 
spired by  poetry  and  romance ; sketched  still  life,  land- 
scapes and  portraits.  Their  highest  achievements,  perhaps, 
have  been  in  landscapes,  which  reveal  a passionate  love  for 
nature,  and  show  with  how  delicate  a charm,  how  sincere 
and  lively  a poetic  feeling,  they  have  interpreted  its  every 
aspect.  They  have  excelled  too  at  all  periods  in  the  paint- 
ing of  animals  and  birds,  especially  of  birds  and  flying  in- 
sects in  conjunction  with  flowers. 

— S.  W.  Bus  hell  in  “ Chinese  Arl.’* 


VI 


THE  EMPRESS  DOWAGER— AS  AN  ARTIST 

ONE  day  the  head  eunuch  from  the  palace 
of  the  Princess  Shun  called  at  our  home 
to  ask  Mrs.  Headland  to  go  and  see  the 
Princess.  While  sitting  in  my  study  and  look- 
ing at  the  Chinese  paintings  hanging  on  the  wall, 
two  of  which  were  from  the  brush  of  Her  Majesty, 
he  remarked : 

“ You  are  fond  of  Chinese  art?” 

“ I am  indeed  fond  of  it,”  I answered. 

“ I notice  you  have  some  pictures  painted  by 
the  Old  Buddha,”  he  continued,  referring  to  the 
Empress  Dowager  by  a name  by  which  she  is 
popularly  known  in  Peking. 

“Yes,  I have  seven  pictures  from  her  brush,” 
I answered. 

“ Do  you  happen  to  have  any  from  the  brush 
of  the  Lady  Miao,  her  painting  teacher  ? ” he  in- 
quired. 

“ I am  sorry  to  say  I have  not,”  I replied.  “ I 
have  tried  repeatedly  to  secure  one,  but  thus 
far  have  failed.  I have  inquired  at  all  the  best 
stores  on  Liu  Li  Chang,  the  great  curio  street, 
but  they  have  none,  and  cannot  tell  me  where  I 
can  find  one.” 


8S 


86 


Court  Life  in  China 


“No,  you  cannot  get  them  in  the  stores  ; she 
does  not  paint  for  the  trade,”  he  explained. 

“ I am  sorry,”  I continued,  “ for  I should  like 
very  much  to  get  one.  I am  told  she  is  a very 
good  artist.” 

“ Oh,  yes,  she  paints  very  well,”  he  went  on 
in  a careless  way.  “ She  lives  over  near  our 
palace.  We  have  a good  many  of  her  paintings. 
They  are  very  easily  gotten.” 

“ It  may  be  easy  for  you  to  get  them,”  I re- 
plied, “ but  it  is  no  small  task  for  me.” 

“ If  you  want  some,”  he  volunteered,  “ I’ll  get 
some  for  you.” 

“ That  would  be  very  kind  of  you,”  I answered, 
“ but  how  would  you  undertake  to  get  them  ? ” 

“ Oh,  I would  just  steal  a few  and  bring  them 
over  to  you.” 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  assure  my  readers  as 
I did  him  that  I could  not  approve  of  this  method 
of  obtaining  paintings  from  the  Lady  Miao’s 
brush.  However  he  must  have  told  the  Princess 
of  my  desire,  for  the  next  time  Mrs.  Headland 
called  at  the  palace  the  Princess  entertained  her 
by  showing  her  a number  of  paintings  by  the 
Lady  Miao,  together  with  others  from  the  brush 
of  the  Empress  Dowager. 

“ And  these  are  really  the  work  of  Her 
Majesty?”  said  Mrs.  Headland  with  a rising  in- 
flection. 

“ Yes,  indeed,”  replied  the  Princess.  “ I 


COCK  AND  BEETLE 

Done  by  the  Empress  Dowager’s  painting  teacher  at  the  request  of  the 
Empress's  sister  and  given  as  a present  to  Mrs.  Headland 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  an  Artist  87 

watched  her  at  work  on  them.  They  are 
genuine.” 

It  was  some  weeks  thereafter  that  Mrs.  Head- 
land was  again  invited  to  call  and  see  the 
Princess,  and  to  her  surprise  she  was  introduced 
to  the  Lady  Miao,  with  whom  and  the  Princess 
she  spent  a very  pleasant  social  hour  or  two. 
When  she  was  about  to  leave,  the  Princess,  who 
is  the  youngest  sister  of  the  Empress  Yehonala, 
brought  out  a picture  of  a cock  about  to  catch 
a beetle,  which  she  said  she  had  asked  Lady 
Miao  to  paint,  and  which  she  begged  Mrs. 
Headland  to  receive  as  a present  from  the  artist 
and  herself. 

During  the  conversation  Mrs.  Headland  re- 
marked that  the  Empress  Dowager  must  have 
begun  her  study  of  art  many  years  ago. 

“Yes,”  said  Lady  Miao.  “We  were  both 
young  when  she  began.  Shortly  after  she  was 
taken  into  the  palace  she  began  the  study  of 
books,  and  partly  as  a diversion,  but  largely  out 
of  her  love  for  art,  she  took  up  the  brush.  She 
studied  the  old  masters  as  they  have  been  re- 
produced by  woodcuts  in  books,  and  from  the 
paintings  that  have  been  preserved  in  the  palace 
collection,  and  soon  she  exhibited  rare  talent.  I 
was  then  a young  woman,  my  brothers  were 
artists,  my  husband  had  passed  away,  and  I 
was  ordered  to  appear  in  the  palace  and  work 
with  her.” 


88 


Court  Life  in  China 


“ You  are  a Chinese,  are  you  not,  Lady 
Miao  ? ” 

“ Yes,”  she  replied,  “ and  as  it  has  not  been 
customary  for  Chinese  ladies  to  appear  at  court 
during  the  present  dynasty,  I was  allowed  to 
unbind  my  feet,  comb  my  hair  in  the  Manchu 
style,  and  wear  the  gowns  of  her  people.” 

“ And  did  you  go  into  the  palace  every  day  ? ” 

“When  I was  young  I did.  Ten  Thousand 
Years” — another  method  of  speaking  of  the 
Empress  Dowager — “ was  very  enthusiastic  over 
her  art  work  in  those  days,  and  often  we  spent  a 
large  part  of  the  day  either  with  our  brushes,  or 
studying  the  history  of  art,  the  examples  in  the 
books,  or  the  works  of  the  old  masters  in  the 
gallery.  One  of  her  favourite  presents  to  her 
friends,  as  you  probably  know,  is  a picture  from 
her  own  brush,  decorated  with  the  impress  of 
her  great  jade  seal,  the  date,  and  an  appropriate 
poem  by  one  of  the  members  of  the  College  of 
Inscriptions.  And  no  presents  that  she  ever 
gives  are  prized  more  highly  by  the  recipients 
than  these  paintings.” 

I had  seen  pictures  painted  by  Her  Majesty 
decorating  the  walls  of  the  palaces  of  several  of 
the  princes,  as  well  as  the  homes  of  a number  of 
my  official  friends.  Some  of  them  I thought 
very  attractive,  and  they  seemed  to  be  well 
done.  They  were  highly  prized  by  their  owners, 
but  I was  anxious  to  know  what  the  Lady  Miao 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  an  Artist  89 

thought  of  her  ability  as  an  artist,  and  so  I 
asked : 

“ Do  you  consider  the  Empress  Dowager  a 
good  painter  ? ” 

“ The  Empress  Dowager  is  a great  woman,” 
she  answered.  ” Of  course,  as  an  artist,  she  is 
an  amateur  rather  than  a professional.  Had  she 
devoted  herself  wholly  to  art,  hers  would  have 
been  one  of  the  great  names  among  our  artists. 
She  wields  her  brush  with  a power  and  precision 
which  only  genius  added  to  practice  can  give. 
She  has  a keen  appreciation  of  art,  and  it  is  a 
pity  that  the  cares  of  state  might  not  have  been 
borne  by  others,  leaving  her  free  to  develop  her 
instinct  for  art.” 

The  Empress  Dowager  kept  eighteen  court 
painters,  selected  from  among  the  best  artists 
of  the  country,  and  appointed  by  herself,  whose 
whole  duty  it  was  to  paint  for  her.  They  were 
divided  into  three  groups,  and  each  group  of  six 
persons  was  required  to  be  on  duty  ten  days  of 
each  month.  As  I was  deeply  interested  in  the 
study  of  Chinese  art  I became  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  most  of  the  court  painters  and 
knew  the  character  of  their  work.  The  head  of 
this  group  was  Mr.  Kuan.  I called  on  him  one 
day,  knowing  that  he  was  not  well  enough  to  be 
on  duty  in  the  palace,  and  I found  him  hard  at 
work.  Like  the  small  boy  who  told  his  mother 
that  he  was  too  sick  to  go  to  school  but  not  sick 


90 


Court  Life  in  China 


enough  to  go  to  bed,  so  he  assured  me  that 
his  troubles  were  not  such  as  to  prevent  his 
working,  but  only  such  as  make  it  impossible 
for  him  to  appear  at  court.  Incidentally  I learned 
that  the  drain  on  his  purse  from  the  squeezes  to 
the  eunuchs  aggravated  his  disease. 

“ When  Her  Majesty  excused  me  from  ap- 
pearing at  the  palace,”  he  explained,  “ she 
required  that  I paint  for  her  a minimum  of  sixty 
pictures  a year,  to  be  sent  in  about  the  time  of 
the  leading  feasts.  These  she  decorates  with 
her  seals,  and  with  appropriate  sentiments 
written  by  members  of  the  College  of  Inscrip- 
tions, and  she  gives  them,  as  she  gives  her  own, 
as  presents  during  the  feasts.”  Mr.  Kuan  and  I 
became  intimate  friends  and  he  painted  three  pic- 
tures which  he  presented  to  me  for  my  collection. 

One  day  another  of  the  court  painters  came  to 
call  on  me  and  during  the  conversation  told  me 
that  he  was  painting  a picture  of  the  Empress 
Dowager  as  the  goddess  of  mercy.  Up  to  that 
time  I had  not  been  accustomed  to  think  of  her 
as  a goddess  of  mercy,  but  he  told  me  that  she 
not  infrequently  copied  the  gospel  of  that  god- 
dess with  her  own  pen,  had  her  portrait  painted 
in  the  form  of  the  goddess  which  she  used  as  a 
frontispiece,  bound  the  whole  up  in  yellow  silk 
or  satin  and  gave  it  as  a present  to  her  favourite 
officials.  Of  course  I thought  at  once  of  my 
collection  of  paintings,  and  said : 


THE  EMPRESS  DOWAGER  AS  GODDESS 
OF  MERCY 

Foreground  and  background  painted  by  Court  Artists 


1 


' 'i: 


.j. 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  an  Artist  gi 

“ How  much  I should  like  to  have  a picture 
of  the  Empress  Dowager  as  the  goddess  of 
mercy  ! ” 

“ I’ll  paint  one  for  you,”  said  he. 

All  this  conversation  I soon  discovered  was 
only  a diplomatic  preliminary  to  what  he  had 
really  come  to  tell  me,  which  was  that  he  had 
been  eating  fish  in  the  palace  a few  days  before, 
and  had  swallowed  a fish-bone  which  had  un- 
fortunately stuck  in  his  throat.  He  said  that  the 
court  physicians  had  given  him  medicine  to  dis- 
solve the  fish-bone,  but  it  had  not  been  effective  ; 
he  therefore  wondered  whether  one  of  the  physi- 
cians of  my  honourable  country  could  remove  it. 
I took  him  to  my  friend  Dr.  Hopkins  who  lived 
near  by,  and  told  him  of  the  dilemma.  The 
doctor  set  him  down  in  front  of  the  window,  had 
him  open  his  mouth,  looked  into  his  throat  where 
he  saw  a small  red  spot,  and  with  a pair  of 
tweezers  removed  the  offending  fish-bone.  And 
had  it  not  been  for  this  service  on  the  part  of 
Dr.  Hopkins,  I am  afraid  I should  never  have 
received  the  promised  picture,  for  he  hesitated 
as  to  the  propriety  of  him,  a court  painter,  doing 
pictures  of  Her  Majesty  for  his  friends.  How- 
ever as  he  often  thereafter  found  it  necessary  to 
call  Mrs.  Headland  to  minister  to  his  wife  and 
children  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was 
proper  for  him  to  do  so,  and  one  day  he  brought 
me  the  picture. 


92 


Court  Life  in  China 


The  Empress  Dowager  not  only  loved  to  be 
painted  as  the  goddess  of  mercy,  but  she  clothed 
herself  in  the  garments  suitable  to  that  deity, 
dressed  certain  ladies  of  the  court  as  her  at- 
tendants, with  the  head  eunuch  Li  Lien-ying  as 
their  protector,  ordered  the  court  artists  to  paint 
appropriate  foreground  and  background  and 
then  called  young  Yii,  her  court  photographer, 
to  snap  his  camera  and  allow  Old  Sol  the 
great  artist  of  the  universe  with  a pencil  of  his 
light  to  paint  her  as  she  was. 

One  day  while  visiting  a curio  store  on  Liu  Li 
Chang,  the  great  book  street  of  Peking,  my  at- 
tention  was  called  by  the  dealer  to  four  small 
paintings  of  peach  blossoms  in  black  and  white, 
from  the  brush  of  the  Empress  Dowager.  These 
pictures  had  been  in  the  panels  of  the  partition 
between  two  of  the  rooms  of  Her  Majesty’s 
apartments  in  the  Summer  Palace,  and  so  I con- 
sidered myself  fortunate  in  securing  them. 

“You  notice,”  said  he,  “that  each  section  of 
these  branches  must  be  drawn  by  a single  stroke 
of  the  brush.  This  is  no  easy  task.  She  must 
be  able  to  ink  her  brush  in  such  a way  as  to  give 
a clear  outline  of  the  limb,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  produce  such  shading  as  she  may  desire. 
Should  her  outline  be  defective,  she  dare  not  re- 
touch it ; should  her  shading  be  too  heavy  or 
insufficient,  she  cannot  take  from  it  and  she  may 
not  add  to  it,  as  this  would  make  it  defective  in 


SPRIGS  OF  PEACH  BLOOM  PAINTED  BY 
THE  EMPRESS  DOWAGER 


With  the  date,  and  a short  poem  written  by  a member  of  the  College 
of  Inscriptions.  The  seal  on  top  is  that  of  her  majesty 


ALSO  PAINTED  BY  THE  EMPRESS  DOWAGER 
WITH  POEM  AND  DATE 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  an  Artist  93 

the  matter  of  caligraphy.  A stroke  once  placed 
upon  her  paper,  for  they  are  done  on  paper,  is 
there  forever.  This  style  of  work  is  among  the 
most  difficult  in  Chinese  art.” 

After  securing  these  paintings,  I showed  them 
to  a number  of  the  best  artists  of  the  present 
day  in  Peking,  and  they  all  pronounced  them 
good  specimens  of  plum  blossom  work  in  mono- 
chrome, and  they  agreed  with  Lady  Miao,  that 
if  the  Empress  Dowager  had  given  her  whole 
time  to  painting  she  would  have  passed  into  his- 
tory as  one  of  the  great  artists  of  the  present 
dynasty. 

One  day  when  one  of  her  court  painters  called 
I showed  him  these  pictures.  He  agreed  with 
all  the  others  as  to  the  quality  of  her  brush  work, 
but  called  my  attention  to  a diamond  shaped 
twining  of  the  branches  in  one  of  them. 

“That,”  said  he,  “is  proof  positive  that  it  is 
her  work.” 

“ Why  ? ” I inquired. 

“ Because  a professional  artist  would  never 
twine  the  twigs  in  that  fashion.” 

“ And  why  not  ? ” 

“They  would  not  do  it,”  he  replied.  “It  is 
not  artistic.” 

“ And  why  do  not  her  friends  call  her  attention 
to  this  fact  ? ” I inquired. 

“ Who  would  do  it  ? ” was  his  counter  question. 


VII 

The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Woman 


The  first  audience  given  by  Her  Imperial  Majesty  to  the 
seven  ladies  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  was  sought  and  urged 
by  the  foreign  ministers.  After  the  troubles  of  1900  and 
the  return  of  the  court,  Her  Majesty  assumed  a different 
attitude,  and,  of  her  own  accord,  issued  many  invitations 
for  audiences,  and  these  invitations  were  accepted.  Then 
followed  my  tiffin  to  the  court  princesses  and  their  tiffin 
in  return.  This  opened  the  way  for  other  princesses  and 
wives  of  high  officials  to  call,  receive  calls,  to  entertain 
and  be  entertained.  In  many  cases  arrangements  were 
made  through  our  mutual  friend  Mrs.  Headland,  an  ac- 
cepted physician  and  beloved  friend  of  many  of  the  higher 
Chinese  families;  and  through  her  innate  tact,  broad 
thought,  and  great  love  for  the  good  she  may  do,  I have 
been  able  to  come  into  personal  touch  with  many  of  these 
Chinese  ladies. 

— Mrs.  E.  H.  Conger  in  ^'Letters from  China." 


V 


VII 


THE  EMPRESS  DOWAGER— AS  A WOMAN 
LTHOUGH  the  great  Dowager  has 


passed  away,  it  may  be  interesting  to 


know  something  about  her  life  and 


character  as  a woman  as  those  saw  her  who 
came  in  contact  with  her  in  public  and  private 
audiences.  In  order  to  appreciate  how  quick 
she  was  to  adopt  foreign  customs,  let  me  give  in 
some  detail  the  difference  in  her  table  decora- 
tions at  the  earlier  and  later  audiences  as  they 
have  been  related  by  my  wife. 

“ At  the  close  of  the  formalities  of  our  intro- 
duction to  the  Empress  Dowager  and  the  Em- 
peror at  one  of  the  first  audiences,  we,  with  the 
ladies  of  the  court,  repaired  to  the  banqueting 
hall.  After  we  were  seated,  each  with  a princess 
beside  her,  the  great  Dowager  appeared.  We 
rose  and  remained  standing  while  she  took  her 
place  at  the  head  of  the  table,  with  the  Emperor 
standing  at  her  left  a little  distance  behind  her. 
As  she  sat  down  she  requested  us  to  be  seated, 
though  the  princesses  and  the  Emperor  all  re- 
mained' standing,  it  being  improper  for  them  to 
sit  in  the  presence  of  Her  Majesty.  Long-robed 
eunuchs  then  appeared  with  an  elaborate  Chinese 


97 


Court  Life  in  China 


98 

banquet,  and  the  one  who  served  the  Empress 
Dowager  always  knelt  when  presenting  her  with 
a dish. 

“ After  we  had  eaten  for  some  little  time,  the 
doyen  asked  if  the  princesses  might  not  be 
seated.  The  Empress  Dowager  first  turned  to 
the  Emperor,  and  said,  ‘Your  Majesty,  please 
be  seated  ’ ; then  turning  to  the  princesses  and 
waving  her  hand,  she  told  them  to  sit  down. 
They  sat  down  in  a timid,  rather  uncomfortable 
way  on  the  edge  of  the  chair,  but  did  not  pre- 
sume to  touch  any  of  the  food. 

“The  conversation  ran  upon  various  topics, 
and,  among  others,  the  Boxer  troubles.  One  of 
the  ladies  wore  a badge.  The  Empress  Dowager 
noticing  it,  asked  what  it  meant. 

“ ‘ Your  Majesty,’  was  the  reply,  ‘ this  was  pre- 
sented to  me  by  my  Emperor  because  I was 
wounded  in  the  Boxer  insurrection.’ 

“ The  Empress  Dowager  took  the  hands  of  this 
lady  in  both  her  own,  and  as  the  tears  stood  in 
her  eyes,  she  said  : 

“ ‘ I deeply  regret  all  that  occurred  during 
those  troublous  times.  The  Boxers  for  a time 
overpowered  the  government,  and  even  brought 
their  gnns  in  and  placed  them  on  the  walls  of  the 
palace.  Such  a thing  shall  never  occur  again.’ 

“ The  table  was  covered  with  brilliantly  col- 
oured oilcloth,  and  was  without  tablecloth  or 
napkins  properly  so  called,  but  we  used  as  nap- 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Woman  99 

kins  square,  coloured  bits  of  calico  about  the  size 
of  a large  bandana  handkerchief.  There  were 
no  flowers,  the  table  decorations  consisting  of 
large  stands  of  cakes  and  fruit.  I speak  of  this 
because  it  was  all  changed  at  future  audiences, 
when  the  table  was  spread  with  snow-white 
cloths,  and  smiled  with  its  load  of  most  gorgeous 
flowers.  Especially  was  this  true  after  the  lunch- 
eons given  to  the  princesses  and  ladies  of  the 
court  by  Mrs.  Conger  at  the  American  legation, 
showing  that  the  eyes  of  these  ladies  were  open 
to  receive  whatever  suggestions  might  come  to 
them  even  in  so  small  a matter  as  the  spreading 
and  decoration  of  a table.  The  banquets  there- 
after were  made  up  of  alternating  courses  of 
Chinese  and  foreign  food. 

“With  but  one  exception,  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager thereafter  never  appeared  at  table  with  her 
guests.  But  at  the  close  of  the  formal  audiences, 
after  descending  from  the  throne,  and  speaking  to 
those  whom  she  had  formerly  met,  she  requested 
her  guests  to  enter  the  banquet  hall  and  enjoy 
the  feast  with  the  princesses,  saying  that  the  cus- 
toms of  her  country  forbade  their  being  seated  or 
partaking  of  food  if  she  were  present.  After  the 
banquet,  however,  the  Empress  Dowager  always 
appeared  and  conversed  cordially  with  her 
guests. 

“ Her  failure  to  appear  at  table  may  have  been 
influenced  by  the  following  incident ; One  of  the 


lOO 


Court  Life  in  China 


leading  lady  guests,  anxious,  no  doubt,  to  obtain 
a unique  curio,  requested  the  Empress  Dowager 
to  present  her  with  the  bowl  from  which  Her 
Majesty  was  eating — a bowl  which  was  different 
from  those  used  by  her  guests,  as  the  dishes 
from  which  her  food  was  served  were  never  the 
same  as  those  used  by  others  at  the  table ! 

“ After  an  instant’s  hesitation  she  turned  to  a 
eunuch  and  said : 

“ ‘ We  cannot  give  her  one  bowl  [the  Chinese 
custom  being  always  to  give  things  in  pairs]  ; 
go  and  prepare  her  two.’ 

“Then,  turning  to  her  guests,  she  continued 
apologetically : 

“ ‘ I should  be  glad  to  give  bowls  to  each  of 
you,  but  the  Foreign  Office  has  requested  me 
not  to  give  presents  at  this  audience.’  It  had 
been  her  custom  to  give  each  of  her  guests  some 
small  gift  with  her  own  hands  and  afterwards  to 
send  presents  by  her  eunuchs  to  their  homes. 

“ On  another  occasion  the  lady  referred  to 
above  took  an  ornament  from  a cabinet  and  was 
carrying  it  away  when  the  person  in  charge  of 
these  things  requested  that  it  be  restored,  saying 
that  she  was  responsible  for  everything  in  the 
room  and  would  be  punished  if  anything  were 
missing. 

“ The  above  incidents  do  not  stand  alone.  It 
was  not  uncommon  for  some  of  the  Continental 
guests,  in  the  presence  of  the  court  ladies,  to 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Woman  loi 

make  uncomplimentary  remarks  about  the  food, 
which  was  Chinese,  and  often  not  very  palatable 
to  the  foreigner.  These  remarks,  of  course,  were 
not  supposed  to  be  understood,  though  the  Em- 
press Dowager  always  had  her  own  interpreter 
at  table.  One  often  felt  that  some  of  these  ladies, 
in  their  efforts  to  see  all  and  get  all,  forgot  what 
was  due  their  own  country  as  well  as  their  im- 
perial hostess. 

“ One  can  understand  the  enormity  of  such  an 
offense  in  a court  the  etiquette  of  which  is  so  ex- 
acting that  none  of  her  own  subjects  ever  dared 
appear  in  her  presence  until  they  had  been 
properly  instructed  in  court  etiquette  in  the 
‘ Board  of  Rites,’  a course  of  instruction  which 
may  extend  over  a period  of  from  a week  to  six 
months.  These  breaches  of  politeness  on  the 
part  of  these  foreign  ladies  may  have  been  over- 
looked by  Her  Majesty  and  the  princesses,  but, 
if  so,  it  was  on  the  old  belief  that  all  outside  of 
China  were  barbarians. 

“ All  the  ladies  who  attended  these  audiences, 
however,  were  not  of  this  character.  There  were 
those  who  realized  the  importance  of  those  oc- 
casions in  the  opening  up  of  China,  and  were 
scrupulous  in  their  efforts  to  conform  to  the  most 
exacting  customs  of  the  court.  And  who  can 
doubt  that  the  warm  friendship  which  the  Em- 
press Dowager  conceived  for  Mrs.  Conger,  the 
wife  of  our  American  minister,  who  did  more 


102 


Court  Life  in  China 


than  any  other  person  ever  did,  or  ever  can  do, 
towards  the  opening  up  of  the  Chinese  court  to 
the  people  of  the  West,  was  because  of  her  ap- 
preciation of  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Conger  was  anx- 
ious to  show  the  Empress  Dowager  the  honour 
due  to  her  position. 

“ It  was  in  her  private  audiences  that  this  great 
I/woman’s  tact,  womanliness,  fascination  and  charm 
as  a hostess  appeared.  Taking  her  guest  by  the 
hand,  she  would  ask  in  the  most  solicitous  way 
whether  we  were  not  tired  with  our  journey  to 
the  palace  ; she  would  deplore  the  heat  in  sum- 
mer or  the  cold  in  winter  ; she  would  express  her 
anxiety  lest  the  refreshments  might  not  have  been 
to  our  taste  ; she  would  tell  us  in  the  sincerest  ac- 
cents that  it  was  a propitious  fate  that  had  made 
our  paths  meet ; and  she  would  charm  each  of 
her  guests,  even  though  they  had  been  formerly 
prejudiced  against  her,  with  little  separate  atten- 
tions, which  exhibited  her  complete  power  as  a 
hostess. 

“When  opportunity  offered,  she  was  always 
\/  anxious  to  learn  of  foreign  ways  and  institutions. 
On  one  occasion  while  in  the  theatre,  she  called 
me  to  her  side,  and,  giving  me  a chair,  inquired 
at  length  into  the  system  of  female  education  in 
America. 

“ ‘ I have  heard,’  she  said,  ‘ that  in  your  hon- 
ourable  country  all  the  girls  are  taught  to  read.’ 

“ ‘ Quite  so.  Your  Majesty.’ 


The  Empress  Dowager— As  a Woman  103 

“ ‘And  are  they  taught  the  same  branches  of 
study  as  the  boys  ? ’ 

“ ‘ In  the  public  schools  they  are.' 

“ ‘ I wish  very  much  that  the  girls  in  China 
might  also  be  taught,  but  the  people  have  great 
difficulty  in  educating  their  boys.’ 

“ I then  explained  in  a few  words  our  public- 
school  system,  to  which  she  replied  : 

“ ‘ The  taxes  in  China  are  so  heavy  at  present 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  add  another  ex- 
pense such  as  this  would  be.’ 

“ It  was  not  long  thereafter,  however,  before 
an  edict  was  issued  commending  female  educa- 
tion, and  at  the  present  time  hundreds  of  girls’ 
schools  have  been  established  by  private  persons 
both  in  Peking  and  throughout  the  empire. 

“ On  another  occasion,  while  the  ladies  were 
having  refreshments,  the  Empress  Dowager  re- 
quested me  to  come  to  her  private  apartments, 
and  while  we  two  were  alone  together,  with  only 
a eunuch  standing  by  fanning  with  a large  pea- 
cock-feather fan,  she  asked  me  to  tell  her  about 
the  church.  It  was  apparent  from  the  beginning 
of  her  conversation  that  she  made  no  distinction 
between  Roman  Catholics  and  Protestants,  call- 
ing them  all  the  Chiao.  I explained  to  her  that 
the  object  of  the  church  was  the  intellectual, 
moral,  and  spiritual  development  of  the  people, 
making  them  both  better  sons  and  better  sub- 
jects. 


104  Court  Life  in  China 

“ Few  women  are  more  superstitious  than  the 
Empress  Dowager.  Her  whole  life  was  influ- 
enced by  her  belief  in  fate,  charms,  good  and 
evil  spirits,  gods  and  demons. 

“ When  it  was  first  proposed  that  she  have  her 
portrait  painted  for  the  St.  Louis  Exposition,  she 
was  dumfounded.  After  a long  conversation, 
however,  in  which  Mrs.  Conger  explained  that 
portraits  of  many  of  the  rulers  of  Europe  would 
be  there,  including  a portrait  of  Queen  Victoria, 
and  that  such  a painting  would  in  a way  coun- 
teract the  false  pictures  of  her  that  had  gone 
abroad,  she  said  that  she  would  consult  with 
Prince  Ching  about  the  matter.  This  looked 
very  much  as  though  it  had  been  tabled.  Not 
long  thereafter,  however,  she  sent  word  to  Mrs. 
Conger,  asking  that  Miss  Carl  be  invited  to  come 
to  Peking  and  paint  her  portrait. 

“ We  all  know  how  this  portrait  had  to  be  be- 
gun on  an  auspicious  day ; how  a railroad  had 
to  be  built  to  the  Foreign  Office  rather  than  have 
the  portrait  carried  out  on  men’s  shoulders,  as 
though  she  were  dead ; how  she  celebrated  her 
seventieth  birthday  when  she  was  sixty-nine,  to 
defeat  the  gods  and  prevent  their  bringing  such 
a calamity  during  the  celebration  as  had  occurred 
when  she  was  sixty,  when  the  Japanese  war  dis- 
turbed her  festivities.  On  her  clothes  she  wore 
the  ideogi'aphs  for  ‘ Long  Life  ’ and  ‘ Happiness,’ 
and  most  of  the  presents  she  gave  were  emblem- 


PEKING  FOR  ST.  LOUIS  EXPOSITION 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Woman  105 

atic  of  some  good  fortune.  Her  palace  was  deco- 
rated with  great  plates  of  apples,  which  by  a play 
on  words  mean  ‘ Peace,’  and  with  plates  of 
peaches,  which  mean  ‘ Longevity.’  On  her 
person  she  wore  charms,  one  of  which  she  took 
from  her  neck  and  placed  on  the  neck  of  Mrs. 
Conger  when  she  was  about  to  leave  China,  say- 
ing that  she  hoped  it  might  protect  her  during 
her  journey  across  the  ocean,  as  it  had  protected 
herself  during  her  wanderings  in  1900,  and  she 
would  not  allow  any  one  to  appear  in  her  pres- 
ence who  had  any  semblance  of  mourning  about 
her  clothing. 

“ It  is  a well-known  fact  that  no  Manchu  woman 
ever  binds  her  feet,  and  the  Empress  Dowager 
was  as  much  opposed  to  foot-binding  as  any 
other  living  woman.  Nevertheless,  she  would 
not  allow  a subject  to  presume  to  suggest  to 
her  ways  in  which  she  should  interfere  in  the 
social  customs  of  the  Chinese,  as  one  of  her 
subjects  did.  This  lady  was  the  wife  of  a Chi- 
nese minister  to  a foreign  country,  and  had 
adopted  both  for  herself  and  her  daughters  the 
most  ultra  style  of  European  dress.  She  one 
day  said  to  Her  Majesty,  ‘ The  bound  feet  of  the 
Chinese  woman  make  us  the  laughing-stock  of 
the  world.’ 

“ ‘ I have  heard,’  said  the  Empress  Dowager, 
‘ that  the  foreigners  have  a custom  which  is  not 
above  reproach,  and  now  since  there  are  no  out- 


io6  Court  Life  in  China 

siders  here,  I should  like  to  see  what  the  foreign 
ladies  use  in  binding  their  waist.’ 

“ The  lady  was  very  stout,  and  had  the  appear- 
ance of  an  hour-glass,  and  turning  to  her  daugh- 
ter, a tall  and  slender  maiden,  she  said  : 

“ ‘ Daughter,  you  show  Her  Majesty.’ 

“ The  young  lady  demurred  until  finally  the 
Empress  Dowager  said  ; 

“ ‘ Do  you  not  realize  that  a request  coming 
from  me  is  the  same  as  a command  ? ’ 

“ After  having  had  her  curiosity  satisfied,  she 
sent  for  the  Grand  Secretary  and  ordered  that 
proper  Manchu  outfits  be  secured  for  the  lady’s 
daughters,  saying  : 

“ ‘ It  is  truly  pathetic  what  foreign  women  have 
to  endure.  They  are  bound  up  with  steel  bars 
until  they  can  scarcely  breathe.  Pitiable  ! Pit- 
iable ! ’ 

“ The  following  day  this  young  lady  did  not 
appear  at  court,  and  the  Empress  Dowager  asked 
her  mother  the  reason  of  her  absence. 

“ ‘ She  is  ill  to-day,’  the  mother  replied. 

“ ‘ I am  not  surprised,’  replied  Her  Majesty, 

‘ for  it  must  require  some  time  after  the  bandages 
have  been  removed  before  she  can  again  com- 
press herself  into  the  same  proportions,’  indica- 
ting that  the  Empress  Dowager  supposed  that 
foreign  women  slept  with  their  waists  bound,  just 
as  the  Chinese  women  do  with  their  feet.” 

The  first  winter  I spent  in  China,  twenty  years 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Woman  107 

ago,  was  one  of  great  excitement  in  Peking.  The 
time  of  the  regency  of  the  Empress  Dowager  for 
the  boy-emperor  had  ended.  I have  explained 
how  a prince  is  not  allowed  to  marry  a princess 
because  she  is  his  relative,  or  even  a commoner 
his  cousin  for  the  same  reason.  That  is  the  rule. 
But  rules  were  made  to  be  broken,  and  when  the 
time  came  for  Kuang  Hsii’s  betrothal  the  Em- 
press Dowager  decided  to  marry  this  son  of  her 
sister  to  the  daughter  of  her  brother.  It  mattered 
not  that  the  young  man  was  opposed  to  the 
match  and  wanted  another  for  his  wife.  The 
Empress  Dowager  had  set  her  heart  upon  this 
union,  and  she  would  not  allow  her  plans  to  be 
frustrated,  so  an  edict  was  issued  that  all  people 
should  remain  within  their  homes  on  a certain 
night,  for  the  bride  w'as  to  be  taken  in  her  red 
chair  from  her  father’s  home  to  the  palace.  So 
that  in  this  as  in  all  other  things  her  will  was  law 
for  all  those  about  her. 

She  was  a bit  below  the  average  height,  but 
she  wore  shoes,  in  the  centre  of  whose  soles  there 
were — heels,  shall  we  call  them  ? — six  inches  high. 
These,  together  with  her  Manchu  garments, 
which  hang  from  the  shoulders,  gave  her  a tall 
and  stately  appearance  and  made  her  seem,  as 
she  was,  every  inch  an  empress.  Her  figure  was 
perfect,  her  carriage  quick  and  graceful,  and  she 
lacked  nothing  physically  to  make  her  a splendid 
type  of  womanhood  and  ruler.  Her  features 


io8  Court  Life  in  China 

were  more  vivacious  and  pleasing  than  they  were 
really  beautiful ; her  complexion  was  of  an  olive 
tint,  and  her  face  illumined  by  orbs  of  jet  half 
hidden  by  dark  lashes,  behind  which  lurked  the 
smiles  of  favour  or  the  lightning  flashes  of  anger. 

When  seated  upon  the  throne  she  was  majesty 
itself,  but  the  moment  she  stepped  down  from  the 
august  seat,  and  took  one’s  hand  in  both  of  hers, 
saying  with  the  most  amiable  of  smiles : “ What 
a kind  fate  it  is  that  has  allowed  you  to  come  and 
see  me  again.  I hope  you  are  not  over-weary 
with  the  long  journey,”  one  felt  that  she  was, 
above  all,  a woman,  a companion,  a friend — yet 
for  all  that  the  mistress  of  every  situation,  whether 
diplomatic,  business,  or  social. 

I wish  her  mental  characteristics  could  be  de- 
scribed as  completely  as  Japanese  and  other 
photographers  have  given  us  pictures  of  her  per- 
son. But  perhaps  if  this  were  possible  she  would 
seem  less  interesting.  And  it  may  be  that  in  the 
relation  of  these  few  incidents  of  her  career  there 
may  have  been  revealed  something  of  the  patriot- 
ism, the  statesmanship,  the  imperious  will,  and 
the  ambitions  that  brought  about  the  reestablish- 
ment and  the  continuation  of  the  dynasty  of  her 
people.  We  have  seen  how  the  enemies  of  her 
country  fell  before  her  sword.  Dangerous  states- 
men fell  before  her  pen,  and  if  they  were  fortu- 
nate enough  to  rise  again  with  all  their  honour 
it  was  to  be  divested  of  all  their  former  power. 


The  Empress  Dowager — As  a Woman  log 

Every  obstacle  in  her  path  was  overcome  either 
by  diplomacy  or  by  force. 

The  Empress  Dowager  has  no  double  in 
Chinese  history,  if  indeed  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  She  not  only  guided  the  ship  of  state 
during  the  last  half  century,  but  she  guided  it 
well,  and  put  into  operation  all  the  greatest  re- 
forms that  have  ever  been  thought  of  by  Chinese 
statesmen.  Compared  with  her  own  people,  she 
stands  head  and  shoulders  above  any  other 
woman  of  the  Mongol  race.  And  what  shall  we 
say  of  her  compared  with  the  great  women  of 
other  races  ? In  strength  of  character  and  ability 
she  will  certainly  not  suffer  in  any  comparison 
that  can  be  made.  We  cannot,  therefore,  help 
admiring  that  young  girl,  who  formerly  ran  er- 
rands for  her  mother  who,  being  made  the  con- 
cubine of  an  emperor,  became  the  mother  of  an 
emperor,  the  wife  of  an  emperor,  the  maker  of 
an  emperor,  the  dethroner  of  an  emperor,  and  the 
ruler  of  China  for  nearly  half  a century — all  this 
in  a land  where  woman  has  no  standing  or 
power.  Is  it  too  much  to  say  that  she  was  the 
greatest  woman  of  the  last  half  century  ? 


VIII 


Kuang  Hsli — His  Self-Development 


The  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii  is  slight  and  delicate,  almost 
childish  in  appearance,  of  pale  olive  complexion,  and 
with  great,  melancholy  eyes.  There  is  a gentleness  in  his 
expression  that  speaks  rather  of  dreaming  than  of  the 
power  to  turn  dreams  into  acts.  It  is  strange  to  find  a 
personality  so  etherial  among  the  descendants  of  the 
Mongol  hordes ; yet  the  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii  might  sit  as 
a model  for  some  Oriental  saint  on  the  threshold  of  the 
highest  beatitude. 

— Charles  Johnston  in  “ The  Crisis  in  China." 


VIII 

KUANG  HSU— HIS  SELF-DEVELOPMENT 

ON  the  night  that  the  son  of  the  Empress 
Dowager  “ascended  upon  the  dragon 
to  be  a guest  on  high,”  two  sedan 
chairs  were  borne  out  of  the  west  gate  of  the 
Forbidden  City,  through  the  Imperial  City,  and 
into  the  western  part  of  the  Tartar  City,  in  one 
of  which  sat  the  senior  Empress  and  in  the 
other  the  Empress-mother.  The  streets  were 
dimly  lighted,  but  the  chairs,  each  carried  by 
four  bearers,  were  preceded  and  followed  by 
outriders  bearing  large  silk  lanterns  in  which 
were  tallow-candles,  while  a heavy  cart  with 
relays  of  bearers  brought  up  the  rear.  The 
errand  upon  which  they  were  bent  was  an  im- 
portant one — the  making  of  an  emperor — for  by 
the  death  of  Tung  Chih,  the  throne,  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  dynasty,  was  left  with- 
out an  heir.  Their  destination  was  the  home  of 
the  Seventh  Prince,  the  younger  brother  of  their 
husband,  to  whom  as  we  have  already  said  the 
Empress  Dowager  had  succeeded  in  marrying 
her  younger  sister,  who  was  at  that  time  the 
happy  mother  of  two  sons. 

”3 


114 


Court  Life  in  China 


She  took  the  elder  of  these,  a not  very  sturdy 
boy  of  three  years  and  more,  from  his  comfort- 
able bed  to  make  him  emperor,  and  one  can 
imagine  they  hear  him  whining  with  a half-sleepy 
yawn : “ I don’t  want  to  be  emperor.  I want 

to  sleep.”  But  she  bundled  little  Tsai  Tien  up 
in  comfortable  wraps,  took  him  out  of  a happy 
home,  from  a loving  father  and  mother,  and  a 
jolly  little  baby  brother, — out  of  a big  beautiful 
world,  where  he  would  have  freedom  to  go  and 
come  at  will,  toys  to  play  with,  children  to  con- 
tend with  him  in  games,  and  everything  in  a 
home  of  wealth  that  is  dear  to  the  heart  of  a 
child.  And  for  what?  She  folded  him  in  her 
arms,  adopted  him  as  her  own  son,  and  carried 
him  into  the  Forbidden — and  no  doubt  to  him 
forbidding — City,  where  his  world  was  one  mile 
square,  without  freedom,  without  another  child 
within  its  great  bare  walls,  where  he  was  the  one 
lone,  solitary  man  among  thousands  of  eunuchs 
and  women.  The  next  morning  when  the  im- 
perial clan  assembled  to  condole  with  her  on  the 
death  of  her  son,  she  bore  little  Tsai  Tien  into 
their  midst  declaring : “ Here  is  your  em- 

peror.” 

At  that  time  there  were  situated  on  Legation 
Street,  in  Peking,  two  foreign  stores  that  had 
been  opened  without  the  consent  of  the  Chinese 
government,  for  in  those  days  the  capital  had 
not  been  opened  to  foreign  trade.  As  the  stores 


Kuang  Hsii — His  Self-Development  115 

were  small,  and  in  such  close  proximity  to  the 
various  legations,  the  most  of  whose  supplies 
they  furnished,  they  seem  to  have  been  too  un- 
important to  attract  official  attention,  though 
they  were  destined  to  have  a mighty  influence 
on  the  future  of  China.  One  of  them  was  kept 
by  a Dane,  who  sold  foreign  toys,  notions,  dry- 
goods  and  groceries  such  as  might  please  the 
Chinese  or  be  of  use  to  the  scanty  European 
population  of  the  great  capital.  By  chance 
some  of  the  eunuchs  from  the  imperial  palace, 
wandering  about  the  city  in  search  of  something 
to  please  little  Tsai  Tien,  dropped  into  this  store 
on  Legation  Street  and  bought  some  of  these 
foreign  toys  for  his  infant  Majesty. 

They  had  already  ransacked  the  city  for 
Chinese  toys.  They  had  gone  to  every  fair, 
visited  every  toy-shop,  called  upon  every 
private  dealer,  and  paid  high  prices  for  samples 
of  their  best  work  made  especially  for  the  royal 
child.  There  were  crowing  cocks  and  cackling 
hens ; barking  dogs  and  crying  infants  ; music 
balls  and  music  carts ; horns,  drums,  diabolos 
and  tops  ; there  were  gingham  dogs  and  calico 
cats  ; camels,  elephants  and  fierce  tigers  ; and  a 
thousand  other  toys,  if  only  he  had  had  other 
children  to  share  them  with  him.  But  none  of 
them  pleased  him.  They  lacked  that  subtile 
something  which  was  necessary  to  minister  to 
the  peculiar  genius  of  the  child. 


ll6  Court  Life  in  China 

Among  the  foreign  toys  there  were  some  in 
which  there  was  concealed  a secret  spring  which 
seemed  to  impart  life  to  the  otherwise  dead 
plaything.  Wind  them  up  and  they  would 
move  of  their  own  energy.  This  was  what  the 
boy  needed, — something  to  appeal  to  that  ma- 
chine-loving disposition  which  nature  had  given 
him,  and  Budge  and  Toddy  were  never  more 
curious  to  know  “ what  made  the  wheels  go 
round  ” than  was  little  Tsai  Tien.  He  played 
with  them  as  toys  until  overcome  by  curiosity, 
when,  like  many  another  child,  he  tore  them 
apart  and  discovered  the  secret  spring.  This 
was  as  much  of  a revelation  to  the  eunuchs  as 
to  the  child,  and  they  went  and  bought  other 
toys  of  a more  curious  pattern,  and  a more 
intricate  design,  and  it  was  not  long  until,  at  the 
instigation  of  the  enterprising  Dane,  the  toy- 
shops of  Europe  were  manufacturing  play- 
things specially  designed  to  please  the  almond- 
eyed  baby  Emperor  in  the  yellow-tiled  palace  in 
Peking. 

As  the  child  grew  the  business  of  the  Dane 
shopkeeper  increased.  His  stock  became  larger 
and  more  varied,  and  Tsai  Tien  continued  to  be 
a profitable  customer.  There  were  music  boxes 
and  music  carts — real  music  carts,  not  like  those 
from  the  Chinese  shops, — trains  of  cars,  wheeled 
boats,  striking  clocks  and  Swiss  watches  which, 
when  the  stem  was  pulled,  would  strike  the  hour 


Kuang  Hsii — His  Self-Development  117 

or  half  or  quarter,  and  all  these  were  bought  in 
turn  by  the  eunuchs  and  taken  into  the  palace. 
As  the  Emperor  grew  to  boyhood  the  Danish 
shopkeeper  supplied  toys  suitable  to  his  years 
from  his  inexhaustible  shelves,  until  all  the  most 
intricate  and  wonderful  toys  of  Europe,  suitable 
for  a boy,  had  passed  through  the  hands  of 
Kuang  Hsii, — “ continued  brilliancy,”  as  his 
name  implied — and  he  seemed  to  be  making 
good  the  meaning  of  his  name. 

We  would  not  lead  any  one  to  believe  that 
Kuang  Hsii  was  an  ideal  child.  He  was  not. 
If  we  may  credit  the  reports  that  came  from  the 
palace  in  those  days,  he  had  a temper  of  his  own. 
If  he  were  denied  anything  he  wanted,  he  would 
lie  down  on  his  baby  back  on  the  dirty  ground 
and  kick  and  scream  and  literally  “ raise  the 
dust  ” until  he  got  it.  My  wife  tells  me  that  not 
infrequently  when  she  called  at  the  Chinese 
homes,  and  they  set  before  her  a dish  of  which 
she  was  especially  fond,  and  she  had  eaten  of  it 
as  much  as  she  thought  she  ought,  the  ladies 
would  ask  in  a good-natured  way  in  reply  to 
some  of  her  remarks  about  her  voracious  appetite, 
“ Shall  we  get  down  and  knock  our  heads  on  the 
floor,  and  beg  you  not  to  eat  too  much,  and 
make  yourself  sick,  like  the  eunuchs  do  to  the 
Emperor?  ” There  is  nothing  to  wonder  at  that 
Kuang  Hsii,  without  parental  restraint,  and 
fawned  upon  by  cringing  eunuchs  and  serv- 


Il8  Court  Life  in  China 

ing  maids,  should  have  been  a spoiled  child ; 
the  wonder  is  that  he  was  not  worse  than  he 
was. 

One  day  in  1901  while  the  court  was  absent  at 
Hsian,  and  the  front  gate  of  the  Forbidden  City 
was  guarded  by  our  “ boys  in  blue,”  I obtained  a 
pass  and  visited  the  imperial  palace.  The  apart- 
ments of  the  Emperor  consisted  of  a series  of  one- 
story  Chinese  buildings,  with  paper  windows 
around  a large  central  pane  of  glass,  tile  roof  and 
brick  floor.  The  east  part  of  the  building  ap- 
peared to  be  the  living-room,  about  twenty  by 
twenty-five  feet.  The  window  on  the  south  side 
extended  the  entire  length  of  the  room,  and  was 
filled  with  clocks  from  end  to  end.  There  were 
clocks  of  every  description  from  the  finest  French 
cloisonne  to  the  most  intricate  cuckoo  clocks 
from  which  a bird  hopped  forth  to  announce  the 
hour,  and  each  ticking  its  own  time  regardless 
of  every  other.  Tables  were  placed  in  various 
parts  of  the  room,  on  each  of  which  were  one, 
two  or  three  clocks.  Swiss  watches  of  the  most 
curious  and  unique  designs  hung  about  the  walls. 
Two  sofas  sat  back  to  back  in  the  centre  of  the 
room,  and  a beautiful  little  gilt  desk  on  which 
was  the  most  wonderful  of  all  his  clocks,  with 
several  large  foreign  chairs  upholstered  in  plush 
and  velvet,  completed  the  furniture.  I sat  down 
in  one  of  these  chairs  to  rest,  for  it  was  a hot 
summer  day,  and  immediately  there  proceeded 


Kuang  Ksii — His  Self-Development  119 

from  beneath  me  sweet  strains  of  music  from  a 
box  concealed  beneath  the  cushion.  It  was  not 
only  a surprise,  it  was  soothing  and  restful ; and 
I was  prepared  to  see  an  electric  fan  pop  out  of 
somewhere  and  fan  me  to  sleep.  It  was  really 
an  Oriental  fairy  tale  of  an  apartment. 

As  Kuang  Hsii  grew  to  boyhood  he  heard  that 
out  in  this  great  wonderful  world,  which  he  had 
never  seen  except  with  the  eyes  of  a child,  there 
was  a method  of  sending  messages  to  distant 
cities  and  provinces  with  the  rapidity  of  a flash 
of  lightning.  For  centuries  he  and  his  ancestors 
had  been  sending  their  edicts,  and  their  Peking 
Gazette  or  court  newspaper — the  oldest  journal 
in  the  world — by  runner,  or  relays  of  post  horses, 
and  the  possibility  of  sending  them  by  a light- 
ning flash  appealed  to  him.  He  believed  in  do- 
ing things,  and,  as  we  shall  see  later,  he  wanted 
to  do  them  as  rapidly  as  they  could  be  done. 
He  therefore  ordered  that  a telegraph  outfit  be 
secured  for  him,  which  he  “ played  with  ” as  he 
had  done  with  his  most  ingenious  toys,  and  the 
telegraph  was  soon  established  for  court  use 
throughout  the  empire. 

One  day  a number  of  officials  came  to  us  at 
the  Peking  University  and  in  the  course  of  a 
conversation  they  said  : 

“The  Emperor  has  heard  that  the  foreigners 
have  invented  a talk  box.  Is  that  true  ? ” 

“ Quite  true,”  we  replied,  “ and  as  we  have  one 


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in  the  physical  laboratory  of  the  college  we  will 
let  you  see  it.” 

We  had  one  of  the  old  Edison  phonographs 
which  worked  with  a pedal,  and  looked  very- 
much  like  a sewing-machine,  and  we  took  them 
to  the  laboratory,  allowed  one  of  them  to  talk 
into  it,  and  then  set  the  machine  to  repeating 
what  had  been  told  it.  The  officials  were  de- 
lighted and  it  was  not  long  until  they  again  ap- 
peared and  insisted  on  buying  it  as  a present  for 
the  Emperor,  for  in  this  way  better  than  any  other 
they  might  hope  to  obtain  official  recognition  and 
position. 

The  Emperor  then  heard  that  the  foreigners  had 
invented  a “ fire-wheel  cart,”  but  whether  he  had 
ever  been  informed  that  they  had  built  a small 
railroad  at  Wu-Sung  near  Shanghai,  and  that  the 
Chinese  had  bought  it,  and  then  torn  it  up  and 
thrown  it  into  the  river  we  cannot  say.  There 
are  many  things  the  officials  and  people  do  which 
never  reach  the  imperial  ears.  However  that 
may  be,  when  Kuang  Hsii  heard  of  the  railroad 
and  the  carts  that  were  run  by  fire,  he  wanted  one, 
and  he  would  not  be  satisfied  until  they  had  built 
a narrow  gauge  railroad  along  the  west  shore  of 
the  lotus  lake  in  the  Forbidden  City,  and  the  fac- 
tories of  Europe  had  made  two  small  cars  and  an 
engine  on  which  he  could  take  the  court  ladies 
for  a ride  on  this  unusual  merry-go-round.  The 
road  and  the  cars  and  the  engine  were  still  there 


Kuang  Hsii — His  Self-Development  121 

when  I visited  the  Forbidden  City  in  1901,  but  they 
were  carried  away  to  Europe  by  some  of  the  allies 
as  precious  bits  of  loot,  before  the  court  returned. 

Not  long  after  he  had  heard  of  the  railroads, 
he  was  told  that  the  foreigners  also  had  “ fire- 
wheel  boats.”  Of  course  he  wanted  some,  and 
as  I crossed  the  beautiful  marble  bridge  that  spans 
the  lotus  lake,  I saw  anchored  near  by  three 
small  steam  launches  which  had  evidently  been 
used  a good  deal.  I saw  similar  launches  in  the 
lake  at  the  Summer  Palace,  and  was  told  that  in 
the  play  days  of  his  boyhood,  Kuang  Hsu  would 
have  these  launches  hitched  to  the  imperial 
barges  and  take  the  ladies  of  the  court  for  pleas- 
ure trips  about  the  lake  in  the  cool  of  the 
summer  evenings,  as  the  Empress  Dowager  did 
her  foreign  visitors  in  later  times. 

The  Emperor  in  those  days  was  on  the  lookout 
for  everything  foreign  that  was  of  a mechanical 
nature.  Indeed  every  invention  interested  him. 
In  this  respect  he  was  diametrically  opposite  to 
the  genius  of  the  whole  Chinese  people.  Their 
faces  had  ever  been  turned  backward,  and  their 
highest  hopes  were  that  they  might  approximate 
the  golden  ages  of  the  past,  and  be  equal  in 
virtue  to  their  ancestors.  This  feeling  was  so 
strong  that  a hundred  years  before  he  mounted 
the  throne,  his  forefather,  Chien  Lung,  when  he 
had  completed  his  cycle  of  sixty  years  as  a ruler, 
vacated  in  favour  of  his  son  lest  he  should  reign 


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longer  than  his  grandfather.  Kuang  Hsii  was 
therefore  the  first  occupant  of  the  dragon  throne 
whose  face  was  turned  to  the  future,  and  whose 
chief  aim  was  to  possess  and  to  master  every 
method  that  had  enabled  the  peoples  of  the  West 
to  humiliate  his  people. 

When  he  heard  that  the  foreigners  had  a method 
of  talking  to  a distance  of  ten,  twenty,  fifty  or 
five  hundred  miles,  he  did  not  say  like  the  old 
farmer  is  reported  to  have  said, — “ It  caint  be 
trew,  because  my  son  John  kin  holler  as  loud 
as  any  man  in  all  this  country,  an’  he  caint  be 
heerd  mor’n  two  miles.”  Kuang  Hsii  believed 
it,  and  at  once  ordered  that  a telephone  be 
secured  for  him. 

In  1894  the  Christian  women  of  China  decided 
to  present  a New  Testament  to  the  Empress 
Dowager  on  her  sixtieth  birthday  which  occurred 
the  following  year.  New  type  was  prepared,  the 
finest  foreign  paper  secured,  and  the  book  was 
made  after  the  best  style  of  the  printer’s  art, 
with  gilt  borders,  gilt  edges,  and  bound  in  silver 
of  an  embossed  bamboo  pattern  and  encased  in 
a silver  box.  It  was  then  enclosed  in  a red  plush 
box, — red  being  the  colour  indicating  happiness, 
— which  was  in  turn  encased  in  a beautifully 
carved  teak-wood  box,  and  this  was  enclosed  in 
an  ordinary  box  and  taken  by  the  English  and 
American  ministers  to  the  Foreign  Office  to  be 
sent  in  to  Her  Majesty 


Kuang  Hsii — His  Self-Development  123 

The  next  day  the  Emperor  sent  to  the  American 
Bible  Society  for  copies  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments, such  as  were  being  sold  to  his  people.  A 
few  days  thereafter  a Chinese  friend — a horticul- 
turist and  gardener  who  went  daily  to  the 
palace  with  flowers  and  vegetables — came  to 
me  in  confidence  as  though  bearing  an  impor- 
tant secret,  and  said  : 

“ Something  of  unusual  importance  is  taking 
place  in  the  palace.” 

“ Indeed  ? ” said  I ; “ what  makes  you  think 
so?” 

” Heretofore  when  I have  gone  into  the 
palace,”  said  he,  “ the  eunuchs  have  treated  me 
with  indifference.  Yesterday  they  sat  down  and 
talked  in  a most  familiar  and  friendly  way,  ask- 
ing me  all  about  Christianity.  I told  them  what 
I could  and  they  continued  their  conversation 
until  long  after  noon.  I finally  became  so  hungry 
that  I arose  to  come  home.  They  urged  me  to 
stay,  bringing  in  a feast,  and  inviting  me  to  dine 
with  them,  and  they  kept  me  there  till  evening. 
One  of  them  told  me  that  the  Emperor  is  study- 
ing the  Gospel  of  Luke.” 

“ How  does  he  know  that  ? ” I inquired. 

“ That  is  what  I asked  him,”  he  answered, 
“ and  he  told  me  that  he  is  one  of  the  Emperor’s 
private  servants,  and  that  His  Majesty  has  a part 
of  the  Gospel  copied  in  large  characters  on  a sheet 
of  paper  each  day,  which  he  spreads  out  on  the 


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table  before  him,  and  this  eunuch,  standing  be- 
hind his  chair,  can  read  what  he  is  studying.” 

On  further  inquiry  I discovered  that  there  was 
no  other  way  that  the  eunuch  could  have  learned 
about  the  Gospel,  except  in  the  way  indicated. 
This  man  was  invited  to  dine  with  the  eunuchs 
day  after  day  until  he  had  told  them  all  he  knew 
about  Christianity,  after  which  they  requested 
him  to  bring  in  the  pastor  of  the  church  of  which 
he  was  a member,  and  who  was  one  of  my 
former  pupils,  to  dine  with  them  and  tell  them 
more  about  the  Gospel.  The  pastor  hesitated  to 
accept  the  invitation,  but  as  it  was  repeated  day 
after  day,  he  finally  accompanied  the  horticul- 
turist. 

When  offered  wine  at  dinner  the  pastor  re- 
fused it,  at  which  the  eunuch  remarked  : “ Oh, 

yes,  I have  heard  that  you  Christians  do  not 
drink  wine,”  and  like  a polite  host,  the  wine  was 
put  aside  and  none  was  drunk  at  the  dinner. 
During  the  afternoon  they  took  their  guests  to 
visit  some  of  the  imperial  buildings,  advanced 
the  sum  of  three  hundred  dollars  to  the  horti- 
culturist to  enlarge  his  plant,  and  gave  various 
presents  to  the  pastor. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  from  this  that  the 
Emperor  was  becoming  a Christian.  Very  far 
from  it,  though  the  interest  he  took  in  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine  set  the  people  to  studying  about  it, 
not  only  in  Peking  but  throughout  many  of  the 


Kuang  Hsu — His  Self-Development  125 

provinces,  as  was  indicated  at  the  time  by  the 
number  of  Christian  books  sold.  As  early  as 
1891  he  issued  a strong  edict  ordering  the  pro- 
tection of  the  missionaries  in  which  he  made 
the  following  statement ; “ The  religions  of  the 

West  have  for  their  object  the  inculcation  of 
virtue,  and,  though  our  people  become  con- 
verted, they  continue  to  be  Chinese  subjects. 
There  is  no  reason  why  there  should  not  be 
harmony  between  the  people  and  the  adherents 
of  foreign  religions.”  The  Chinese  reported 
that  he  sometimes  examined  the  eunuchs,  li- 
ning them  up  in  classes  and  catechising  them 
from  the  books  read. 

One  day  three  of  the  eunuchs  called  on  me 
with  this  same  horticulturist,  for  the  purpose  no 
doubt  of  seeing  a foreigner,  and  to  get  a glimpse 
of  the  home  in  which  he  lived.  One  of  them 
was  younger  than  the  other  two  and  above  the 
average  intelligence  of  his  class.  A few  days 
later  the  horticulturist  told  me  a story  which 
illustrates  a phase  of  the  Emperor’s  character 
which  we  have  already  hinted  at — his  impulsive 
nature  and  ungovernable  temper.  He  had 
ordered  a number  of  the  eunuchs  to  appear 
before  him,  all  of  whom  except  this  young  man 
were  unable  to  come,  because  engaged  in  other 
duties.  When  the  eunuch  got  down  on  his  hands 
and  knees  to  kotow  or  knock  his  head  to  His 
Majesty,  the  latter  kicked  him  in  the  mouth, 


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cutting  his  lip  and  otherwise  injuring  him,  and 
my  informant  added  : 

“What  kind  of  a man  is  that  to  govern  a 
country,  a man  who  punishes  those  who  obey 
his  orders  ? ” Indeed  there  was  a good  deal  of 
feeling  among  the  Chinese  at  that  time  that  the 
Empress  Dowager  ought  to  punish  the  Emperor 
as  a good  mother  does  a bad  child,  though  in 
the  light  of  all  the  other  things  he  did,  he  was  to 
be  pitied  more  than  blamed  for  a disposition  thus 
inherited  and  developed. 

It  was  about  this  time  he  began  the  study  of 
English.  He  ordered  that  two  teachers  be  ap- 
pointed, and  contrary  to  all  former  customs  he 
allowed  them  to  sit  rather  than  kneel  while  they 
taught  him.  At  the  time  they  were  selected  I 
was  exchanging  lessons  in  English  for  Chinese 
with  the  grandson  of  one  of  these  teachers,  and 
learned  a good  deal  about  the  progress  the 
young  man  was  making.  He  was  in  such  a 
hurry  to  begin  that  he  could  not  wait  to  send 
to  England  or  America  for  books,  and  so  the 
officials  visited  the  various  schools  and  missions 
in  search  of  proper  primers  for  a beginner. 
When  they  visited  us  we  made  a thorough 
search  and  finally  Dr.  Marcus  L.  Taft  discovered 
an  attractively  illustrated  primer  which  he  had 
taken  to  China  with  him  for  his  little  daughter 
Frances,  and  this  was  sent  to  Kuang  Hsii. 

One  day  a eunuch  called  on  me  saying  that 


Kuang  Hsu — His  Self-Development  127 

the  Emperor  had  learned  that  the  various  institu- 
tions of  learning,  educational  associations,  tract 
and  other  societies  had  published  a number  of 
books  in  Chinese  which  they  had  translated  from 
the  European  languages.  I was  at  that  time  the 
custodian  of  two  or  three  of  these  societies  and 
had  a great  variety  of  Chinese  books  in  my 
possession.  I therefore  sent  him  copies  of  our 
astronomy,  geology,  zoology,  physiology  and 
various  other  scientific  books  which  I was  at 
that  time  teaching  in  the  university. 

The  next  day  he  called  again,  accompanied 
by  a coolie  who  brought  me  a present  of  a ham 
cooked  at  the  imperial  kitchen,  together  with 
boxes  of  fruit  and  cakes,  which,  not  being  a man 
of  large  appetite,  I thanked  him  for,  tipped  the 
coolie,  and  after  he  had  gone,  turned  them  over 
to  our  servants,  who  assured  me  that  imperial 
meat  was  very  palatable.  Day  after  day  for  six 
weeks  this  eunuch  visited  me,  and  would  never 
leave  until  I had  found  some  new  book  for  His 
Majesty.  They  might  be  literary,  scientific  or 
religious  works,  and  he  made  no  distinction  be- 
tween the  books  of  any  sect  or  society,  institution 
or  body,  but  with  an  equal  zeal  he  sought  them 
all.  I was  sometimes  reduced  to  a sheet  tract, 
and  finally  I was  forced  to  take  my  wife’s  Chinese 
medical  books  out  of  her  private  library  and  send 
them  in  to  the  Emperor.  I learned  that  other 
eunuchs  were  visiting  other  persons  in  charge  of 


128 


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other  books,  and  that  at  this  time  Kuang  Hsii 
bought  every  book  that  had  been  translated  from 
any  European  language  and  published  in  the 
Chinese. 

One  day  the  eunuch  saw  my  wife’s  bicycle 
standing  on  the  veranda  and  said  : 

“ What  kind  of  a cart  is  that  ? ” 

“ That  is  a self  moving  cart,”  I answered. 

“ How  do  you  ride  it  ? ” he  inquired. 

I took  the  bicycle  off  the  veranda,  rode  about 
the  court  a time  or  two,  while  he  gazed  at  me 
with  open  mouth,  and  when  I stopped  he  ejacu- 
lated : 

“ That’s  queer  ; why  doesn’t  it  fall  down  ? ” 

” When  a thing’s  moving,”  I answered,  “ it 
can’t  fall  down,”  which  might  apply  to  other 
things  than  bicycles. 

The  next  day  when  he  called  he  said ; 

“ The  Emperor  would  like  that  bicycle,”  and  my 
wife  allowed  him  to  take  it  in  to  Kuang  Hsii,  and 
it  was  not  long  thereafter  until  it  was  reported 
that  the  Emperor  had  been  trying  to  ride  the 
bicycle,  that  his  queue  had  become  entangled  in 
the  rear  wheel,  and  that  he  had  had  a not  very 
royal  tumble,  and  had  given  it  up, — as  many 
another  one  has  done. 


Kuang  Hsii — As  Emperor  and  Reformer 


In  1891  the  present  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii  issued  a very 
strong  edict  commanding  good  treatment  of  the  mission- 
aries. He  therein  made  the  following  statement : “ The 

religions  of  the  West  have  for  their  object  the  inculcation 
of  virtue,  and,  though  our  people  become  converted,  they 
continue  to  be  Chinese  subjects.  There  is  no  reason  why 
there  should  not  be  harmony  between  the  people  and  the 
adherents  of  foreign  religions.” 

— Mon.  Charles  Denby  in  China  and  Her  People'' 


IX 

KUANG  HSti— AS  EMPEROR  AND  REFORMER 


S a man,  there  are  few  characters  in 


Chinese  history  that  are  more  interest- 


X ing  than  Kuang  Hsii.  He  had  all  the 
caprices  of  genius  with  their  corresponding  weak- 
ness and  strength.  He  could  wield  a pen  with 
the  vigour  of  a Caesar,  threaten  his  greatest 
viceroys,  dismiss  his  leading  conservative  offi- 
cials, introduce  the  most  sweeping  and  far- 
reaching  reforms  that  have  ever  been  thought 
of  by  the  Chinese  people,  and  then  run  from  a 
woman  as  though  the  very  devil  was  after  him. 

He  has  been  variously  rated  as  a genius,  an 
imbecile  and  a fool.  Let  us  grant  that  he  was 
not  brilliant.  Let  us  rate  him  as  an  imbecile, 
and  then  let  us  try  to  account  for  his  having 
brought  into  the  palace  every  ingenious  toy  and 
every  wonderful  and  useful  invention  and  dis- 
covery of  the  past  twenty  or  thirty  years  with  the 
exception  of  the  X-rays  and  liquid  air.  Let  us 
try  to  explain  why  it  was  that  an  imbecile  would 
purchase  every  book  that  had  been  printed  in  the 
Chinese  language,  concerning  foreign  subjects  of 
learning,  up  to  the  time  when  he  was  dethroned. 
Let  us  tell  why  it  was  that  an  imbecile  would 


132  Court  Life  in  China 

study  all  those  foreign  books  without  help,  with- 
out an  assistant,  without  a teacher,  for  three 
years,  from  the  time  he  bought  them  in  1895  till 
1898,  before  he  began  issuing  the  most  remark- 
able series  of  edicts  that  have  ever  come  from  the 
pen  of  an  Oriental  monarch  in  the  same  length 
of  time.  And  let  us  explain  how  it  was  that  an 
imbecile  could  embody  in  his  edicts  of  two  or 
three  months  all  the  important  principles  that 
were  necessary  to  launch  the  great  reforms  of  the 
past  ten  years. 

I doubt  if  any  Chinese  monarch  has  ever  had  a 
more  far-reaching  influence  over  the  minds  of 
the  young  men  of  the  empire  than  Kuang  Hsii  had 
from  1895  till  1898.  The  preparation  for  this  in- 
fluence had  been  going  on  for  twenty  or  thirty 
years  previously  in  the  educational  institutions 
established  by  the  missions  and  the  government. 
From  these  schools  there  had  gone  out  a great 
number  of  young  men  who  had  taken  positions 
in  all  departments  of  business,  and  many  of  the 
state,  and  revealed  to  the  officials  as  well  as  to 
many  of  the  people  the  power  of  foreign  educa- 
tion. An  imperial  college  had  been  established 
by  the  customs  service  for  the  special  education 
of  young  men  for  diplomatic  and  other  positions, 
from  which  there  had  gone  out  young  men  who 
were  the  representatives  of  the  government  as 
consuls  or  ministers  in  the  various  countries  of 
Europe  and  America. 


Kuang  Hsii — As  Emperor  and  Reformer  133 

The  fever  for  reading  the  same  books  that 
Kuang  Hsii  had  read  was  so  great  as  to  tax  to 
the  utmost  the  presses  of  the  port  cities  to  supply 
the  demand,  and  the  leaders  of  some  of  the  pub- 
lication societies  feared  that  a condition  had 
arisen  for  which  they  were  unprepared.  Books 
written  by  such  men  as  Drs.  Allen,  Mateer,  Mar- 
tin, Williams  and  Legge  were  brought  out  in 
pirated  photographic  reproductions  by  the  book- 
shops of  Shanghai  and  sold  for  one-tenth  the  cost 
of  the  original  work.  Authors,  to  protect  them- 
selves, compelled  the  pirates  to  deliver  over  the 
stereotype  plates  they  had  made  on  penalty  of 
being  brought  before  the  officials  in  litigation  if 
they  refused.  But  during  the  three  years  the 
Emperor  had  been  studying  these  foreign  books, 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  young  scholars  all  over 
the  empire  had  been  doing  the  same,  preparing 
themselves  for  whatever  emergency  the  studies 
of  the  young  Emperor  might  bring  about. 

One  day  during  the  early  spring  a young 
Chinese  reformer  came  to  me  to  get  a list  of  the 
best  newspapers  and  periodicals  published  in 
both  England  and  America.  I inquired  the  rea- 
son for  this  strange  move,  and  he  said  : 

“ The  young  Chinese  reformers  in  Peking  have 
organized  a Reform  Club.  Some  of  them  read 
and  speak  English,  others  French,  others  Ger- 
man and  still  others  Russian,  and  we  are  provi- 
ding ourselves  with  all  the  leading  periodicals  of 


134 


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these  various  countries  that  we  may  read  and 
study  them.  W e have  rented  a building,  prepared 
rooms,  and  propose  to  have  a club  where  we  can 
assemble  whenever  we  have  leisure,  for  conver- 
sation, discussion,  reading,  lectures  or  whatever 
will  best  contribute  to  the  ends  we  have  in  view.” 

“And  what  are  those  ends?  ” I inquired. 

“ The  bringing  about  of  a new  regime  in 
China,”  he  answered.  “ Our  recent  defeat  by 
the  Japanese  has  shown  us  that  unless  some 
radical  changes  are  made  we  must  take  a second 
place  among  the  peoples  of  the  Orient.” 

“ This  is  a new  move  in  Peking,  is  it  not  ? ” 

“ New  in  Peking,”  he  answered,  “ but  not  new 
in  the  empire.  Reform  clubs  are  being  organ- 
ized in  all  the  great  cities  and  capitals.  In  Hsian, 
books  have  been  purchased  by  all  classes  from 
the  governor  of  the  province  down  to  the  hum- 
blest scholar,  and  the  aristocracy  have  organized 
classes,  and  are  inviting  the  foreigners  to  lecture 
to  them.  Every  one,  except  a few  of  the  oldest 
conservative  scholars,  are  discarding  their  Confu- 
cian  theories  and  reconstructing  their  ideas  in 
view  of  present  day  problems.  There  is  an  in- 
tellectual fermentation  now  going  on  from  which 
a new  China  is  certain  to  be  evolved,  and  we 
propose  to  be  ready  for  it  when  it  comes.” 

The  leader  of  this  reform  party  was  Kang 
Yii-wei,  a young  Cantonese,  who  had  made  a 
thorough  study  of  the  reforms  of  Peter  the  Great 


Kuang  HsU — As  Emperor  and  Reformer  135 

in  Russia,  and  the  more  recent  reforms  in  Japan, 
the  history  of  which  he  had  prepared  in  two 
volumes  which  he  sent  to  the  Emperor.  He  had 
made  a reputation  for  himself  in  his  native  place 
as  a “ Modem  Sage  and  Reformer,”  was  hailed 
as  a ” young  Confucius,”  was  appointed  a third- 
class  secretary  in  the  Board  of  Works,  and  as 
the  Emperor  and  he  had  been  studying  on  the 
same  lines,  Kang,  through  the  influence  of  the 
brother  of  the  chief  concubine,  was  introduced  to 
His  Majesty.  He  had  a three  hours’  conference 
with  the  Foreign  Office,  in  which  he  urged  that 
China  should  imitate  Japan,  and  that  the  old 
conservative  ministers  and  viceroys  should  be  re- 
placed by  young  men  imbued  with  Western 
ideas,  who  might  confer  with  the  Emperor  daily 
in  regard  to  all  kinds  of  reform  measures. 

This  interview  was  reported  to  Kuang  Hsii  by 
Prince  Kung  and  Jung  Lu,  who  both  being  old, 
and  one  of  them  the  greatest  of  the  conservatives, 
could  hardly  be  expected  to  approve  of  his  theo- 
ries. Kang,  however,  was  asked  to  embody  his 
suggestions  in  a memorial,  was  later  given  an 
audience  with  the  Emperor,  and  finally  called 
into  the  palace  to  assist  him  in  the  reforms  he 
had  already  undertaken.  And  if  Kang  Y ii- wei  had 
been  as  great  a statesman  as  he  was  reformer, 
Kuang  Hsii  might  never  have  been  deposed. 

The  crisis  came  during  the  summer  of  1898. 
I had  taken  my  family  to  the  seashore  to  spend 


Court  Life  in  China 


136 

our  summer  vacation.  A young  Chinese  scholar 
— a Hanlin — who  had  been  studying  in  the  uni- 
versity for  some  years,  and  with  whom  I was 
translating  a work  on  psychology,  had  gone  with 
me.  He  took  the  Peking  Gazette,  which  he  read 
daily,  and  commented  upon  with  more  or  less 
interest,  until  June  23d,  when  an  edict  was  issued 
abolishing  the  literary  essay  of  the  old  regime  as 
a part  of  the  government  examination,  and  sub- 
stituting therefor  various  branches  of  the  new 
learning.  “We  have  been  compelled  to  issue 
this  decree,”  said  the  Emperor,  “ because  our  ex- 
aminations have  reached  the  lowest  ebb,  and  we 
see  no  remedy  for  these  matters  except  to  change 
entirely  the  old  methods  for  a new  course  of  com- 
petition.” 

“What  do  you  think  of  that?”  I asked  the 
Hanlin. 

“ The  greatest  step  that  has  ever  yet  been 
taken,”  he  replied. 

This  Hanlin  w'as  not  a radical  reformer,  but 
one  of  a long  line  of  officials  who  were  deeply 
interested  in  the  preservation  of  their  country 
which  had  weathered  the  storms  of  so  many 
centuries, — storms  which  had  wrecked  Assyria, 
Babylonia,  Media,  Egypt,  Greece  and  Rome, 
while  China,  though  growing  but  little,  had  still 
lived.  He  was  one  of  those  progressive  states- 
men who  have  alw'ays  been  found  among  a 
strong  minority  in  the  Middle  Kingdom. 


Kuang  Hsu — As  Emperor  and  Reformer  137 

The  Peking  Gasette  continued  to  come  daily 
bringing  with  it  the  following  twenty-seven  de- 
crees in  a little  more  than  twice  that  many  days. 
I will  give  an  epitome  of  the  decrees  that  the 
reader  at  a glance  may  see  what  the  Emperor  un- 
dertook to  do.  Summarized  they  are  as  follows  : 

1.  The  establishment  of  a university  at  Pe- 
king. 

2.  The  sending  of  imperial  clansmen  to  for- 
eign countries  to  stud}^  the  forms  and  conditions 
of  European  and  American  government. 

3.  The  encouragement  of  the  arts,  sciences 
and  modern  agriculture. 

4.  The  Emperor  expressed  himself  as  willing 
to  hear  the  objections  of  the  conservatives  to 
progress  and  reform. 

5.  Abolished  the  literary  essay  as  a promi- 
nent part  of  the  governmental  examinations. 

6.  Censured  those  who  attempted  to  delay  the 
establishment  of  the  Peking  Imperial  University. 

7.  Urged  that  the  Lu-Han  railway  should  be 
prosecuted  with  more  vigour  and  expedition. 

8.  Advised  the  adoption  of  Western  arms  and 
drill  for  all  the  Tartar  troops. 

9.  Ordered  the  establishment  of  agricultural 
schools  in  all  the  provinces  to  teach  the  farmers 
improved  methods  of  agriculture. 

10.  Ordered  the  introduction  of  patent  and 
copyright  laws. 

11.  The  Board  of  War  and  Foreign  Office 


138  Court  Life  in  China 

were  ordered  to  report  on  the  reform  of  the  mili- 
tary examinations, 

12.  Special  rewards  were  offered  to  inventors 
and  authors. 

13.  The  officials  were  ordered  to  encourage 
trade  and  assist  merchants. 

14.  School  boards  were  ordered  established 
in  every  city  in  the  empire. 

15.  Bureaus  of  Mines  and  Railroads  were 
established. 

16.  Journalists  were  encouraged  to  write  on 
all  political  subjects. 

17.  Naval  academies  and  training-ships  were 
ordered. 

18.  The  ministers  and  provincial  authorities 
were  called  upon  to  assist — nay  were  begged  to 
make  some  effort  to  understand  what  he  was 
trying  to  do  and  help  him  in  his  efforts  at  reform. 

19.  Schools  were  ordered  in  connection  with 
all  the  Chinese  legations  in  foreign  countries  for 
the  benefit  of  the  children  of  Chinese  in  those 
places. 

20.  Commercial  bureaus  were  ordered  in 
Shanghai  for  the  encouragement  of  trade. 

21.  Six  useless  Boards  in  Peking  were  abol- 
ished. 

22.  The  right  to  memorialize  the  throne  in 
sealed  memorials  was  granted  to  all  who  desired 
to  do  so. 

23.  Two  presidents  and  four  vice-presidents 


Kuang  Hsli — As  Emperor  and  Reformer  139 

of  the  Board  of  Rites  were  dismissed  for  disobey- 
ing the  Emperor’s  orders  that  memorials  should 
be  allowed  to  come  to  him  unopened. 

24.  The  governorships  of  Hupeh,  Kuangtung, 
and  Yunnan  were  abolished  as  being  a useless 
expense  to  the  country. 

25.  Schools  of  instruction  in  the  preparation 
of  tea  and  silk  were  ordered  established. 

26.  The  slow  courier  posts  were  abolished  in 
favour  of  the  Imperial  Customs  Post. 

27.  A system  of  budgets  as  in  Western  coun- 
tries was  approved. 

I have  given  these  decrees  in  this  epitomized 
form  so  that  all  those  who  are  interested  in  the 
character  of  this  reform  movement  in  China  may 
understand  something  of  the  influence  the  young 
Emperor’s  study  had  had  upon  him.  Grant  that 
they  followed  one  another  in  too  close  proximity, 
yet  still  it  must  be  admitted  by  every  careful 
student  of  them,  that  there  is  not  one  that  would 
not  have  been  of  the  greatest  possible  benefit  to 
the  country  if  they  had  been  put  into  operation. 
If  the  Emperor  had  been  allowed  to  proceed, 
making  them  all  as  effective  as  he  did  the  Im- 
perial University,  and  if  the  ministers  and  pro- 
vincial authorities  had  responded  to  his  call,  and 
had  made  “some  effort  to  understand  what  he 
was  trying  to  do,”  China  might  have  by  this  time 
been  close  upon  the  heels  of  Japan  in  the  adop- 
tion of  Western  ideas. 


140 


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As  the  edicts  continued  to  come  out  in  such 
quick  succession  my  Hanlin  friend  became 
alarmed.  He  came  to  me  one  day  after  the 
Emperor  had  censured  the  officials  for  trying  to 
delay  the  establishment  of  the  Imperial  Uni- 
versity and  said  : 

“ I must  return  to  Peking.” 

“Why  return  so  soon?”  I inquired. 

“ There  is  going  to  be  trouble  if  the  Emperor 
continues  his  reform  at  this  rate  of  speed,”  he 
answered. 

It  was  when  the  Emperor  had  issued  the  sixth 
of  his  twenty-seven  decrees  that  this  young 
Chinese  statesman  made  this  observation.  If 
his  most  intimate  advisers  had  had  the  per- 
spicuity to  have  foreseen  the  final  outcome  of 
such  precipitance  might  they  not  have  advised 
the  Emperor  to  have  proceeded  more  deliber- 
ately ? When  one  remembers  how  China  had 
been  worsted  by  Japan,  how  all  her  prestige  was 
swept  away,  how,  from  having  been  the  parent 
of  the  Oriental  family  of  nations,  a desirable 
friend  or  a dangerous  enemy,  she  was  stripped 
of  all  her  glory,  and  left  a helpless  giant  with 
neither  strength  nor  power,  one  can  easily  un- 
derstand the  eagerness  of  this  boy  of  twenty- 
seven  to  restore  her  to  the  pedestal  from  which 
she  had  been  ruthlessly  torn. 

Another  reason  for  his  haste  may  be  found  in 
the  seizure  of  his  territory  by  the  European 


Kuang  Hsli — As  Emperor  and  R.eformer  141 

powers.  A few  months  before  he  began  his  re- 
forms two  German  priests  were  murdered  by  an 
irresponsible  mob  in  the  province  of  Shantung. 
With  this  as  an  excuse  Germany  landed  a bat- 
talion of  marines  at  Kiaochou,  a port  of  that 
province,  which  she  took  with  fifty  miles  of  the 
surrounding  territory.  As  though  this  were  not 
enough,  she  demanded  the  right  to  build  all 
the  railroads  and  open  all  the  mines  in  the 
entire  province,  and  compelled  the  Chinese  to 
pay  an  indemnity  to  the  families  of  the  murdered 
priests  and  rebuild  the  church  and  houses  the 
mob  had  destroyed.  China  appealed  to  Russia 
who  had  promised  to  protect  her  against  all  in- 
vaders. Instead  of  coming  to  her  aid,  however, 
Russia  demanded  a similar  cession  of  Port 
Arthur,  Talienwan  and  the  surrounding  territory 
which  she  had  refused  to  allow  Japan  to  retain 
two  years  before.  Not  to  be  outdone  by  the 
others,  France  demanded  and  received  a similar 
strip  of  territory  at  Kuang-chou-wan  ; and  Eng- 
land found  that  Wei-hai-wei  would  be  indispen- 
sable as  a kennel  from  which  she  could  guard 
the  Russian  bear  on  the  opposite  shore,  but  why 
she  should  have  found  it  necessary  also  to  de- 
mand from  China  four  hundred  miles  of  land 
and  water  around  Hongkong  was  no  doubt  dif- 
ficult for  Kuang  Hsii  to  understand. 

When  the  Empress  Dowager  turned  over  the 
reins  of  government  to  her  nephew  she  did  it 


142 


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very  much  as  a father  would  place  the  reins  in 
the  hands  of  a child  whom  he  was  teaching  to 
drive  an  important  vehicle  on  a dangerous  road 
— she  sat  behind  him  still  holding  the  reins. 
Among  the  things  reserved  were  that  he  should 
kotow  to  her  once  every  five  days  whether  she 
were  in  Peking  or  at  the  Summer  Place,  and  she 
reserved  such  seals  of  office  as  made  it  necessary 
for  all  the  highest  officials  to  come  and  express 
their  obligations  to  her  at  the  same  time  they 
came  to  thank  the  Emperor.  While  Kuang 
Hsii  may  have  been  reconciled  to  the  perform- 
ance of  these  duties  at  eighteen,  they  became 
irksome  at  twenty-seven  and  he  demanded  and 
received  full  liberty  in  the  affairs  of  state. 

We  have  seen  how  he  used  his  liberty, — not 
wisely,  perhaps,  as  a reformer,  and  yet  the  ref- 
ormation of  China  can  never  be  written  without 
giving  the  credit  of  its  inception  to  Kuang  Hsu. 
He  was  very  different  from  Hsien  Feng  the  hus- 
band of  the  Empress  Dowager  before  whose 
death  we  are  told  “ the  whole  administrative 
power  was  vested  in  the  hands  of  a council  of 
eight,  whilst  he  himself  spent  his  time  in  ways 
that  were  by  no  means  consistent  with  those 
that  ought  to  have  characterized  the  ruler  of  a 
great  and  powerful  nation.”  Whatever  else 
may  be  said  of  Kuang  Hsii,  he  cannot  be  ac- 
cused of  indolence,  extravagance,  or  indifference 
to  the  welfare  of  his  country  or  his  people. 


Kuang  Hsii — As  Emperor  and  Reformer  143 

Appreciating  the  difficulty  of  securing  an  ex- 
pression of  opinion  from  those  opposed  to  his 
views,  and  thus  getting  both  sides  of  the  ques- 
tion, in  his  fourth  edict  he  requested  the  con- 
servatives to  send  in  their  objections  to  his 
schemes  for  progress  and  reform,  and  then  as  if 
to  get  the  broadest  possible  expression  of 
opinion  he  adopted  a Shanghai  journal  called 
Chinese  Progress  as  the  official  organ  of  the 
government.  But  lest  this  be  insufficient,  in  his 
twenty-second  edict  he  gave  the  right  to  all 
officials  to  address  the  throne  in  sealed  memo- 
rials. 

There  was  at  this  time  a third-class  secretary 
of  the  Board  of  Rites  named  Wang  Chao  who 
sent  in  a memorial  in  which  he  advocated : 

1.  The  abolition  of  the  queue. 

2.  The  changing  of  the  Chinese  style  of  dress 
to  that  of  the  West. 

3.  The  adoption  of  Christianity  as  a state 
religion. 

4.  A prospective  national  parliament. 

5.  A journey  to  Japan  by  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  Dowager. 

The  Board  of  Rites  opened  and  read  this 
memorial,  and,  astounded  at  its  boldness,  they 
summoned  the  offender  before  them,  and  ordered 
him  to  withdraw  his  paper.  This  he  refused  to 
do  and  the  two  presidents  and  four  vice-presi- 
dents of  the  Board  accompanied  it  with  a 


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counter  memorial  denouncing  him  to  the  Em- 
peror as  a man  who  was  making  narrow-minded 
and  wild  suggestions  to  His  Majesty. 

Partly  because  they  had  opened  and  read  the 
memorial  and  partly  because  of  their  effort  to 
prevent  freedom  of  speech,  Kuang  Hsii  issued 
another  edict  explaining  why  he  had  invited 
sealed  memorials,  and  censuring  them  for  ex- 
plaining to  him  what  was  narrow-minded  and 
wild,  as  if  he  lacked  the  intelligence  to  grasp  that 
feature  of  the  paper.  He  then  turned  them  all 
over  to  the  Board  of  Civil  Office  ordering  that 
body  to  decide  upon  a suitable  punishment  for 
their  offense,  and  assuring  them  that  if  they  made 
it  too  mild,  his  righteous  wrath  would  fall  upon 
them.  The  latter  decided  that  they  be  degraded 
three  steps  and  removed  to  posts  befitting  their 
lowered  rank,  but  the  Emperor  revised  the  sen- 
tence and  dismissed  them  all  from  office,  and 
this  was  the  beginning  of  his  downfall. 

The  Empress  Dowager  had  been  spending  the 
hot  season  at  the  Summer  Palace,  and  during  the 
two  months  and  more  that  the  Emperor  had  been 
struggling  with  his  reform  measures,  she  gave 
no  indication,  either  by  word  or  deed,  that  she 
was  opposed  to  anything  that  he  had  done.  And 
I think  that  all  her  acts,  from  that  time  till  the 
close  of  the  Boxer  insurrection,  can  be  explained 
without  placing  her  in  opposition  to  his  theories 
of  progress  and  reform. 


Kuang  Hsli — As  Emperor  and  Reformer  145 

So  long  as  the  Emperor  devoted  himself  to  the 
creation  of  new  offices  he  found  little  active  op- 
position on  the  part  of  the  conservatives,  while 
the  reformers  did  everything  in  their  power  to 
encourage  him.  The  extent  of  the  movement  it 
is  not  easy  to  estimate.  It  opened  up  the  in- 
tensely anti-foreign  province  of  Hupeh,  and 
transformed  it  into  a section  where  railroads 
were  to  be  built  connecting  the  north  with  the 
south.  It  opened  up  the  great  mining  province 
of  Shansi  and  the  lumber  regions  of  Manchuria. 
It  started  railroads  which  are  now  lines  of  trade 
for  the  whole  empire. 

When  he  issued  the  fifth  edict  substituting 
Western  science  for  the  literary  essay  in  the  great 
examinations,  letters  and  telegrams  began  to 
pour  in  upon  us  at  the  Peking  University  from  all 
parts  of  the  empire,  asking  us  to  reserve  room 
for  the  senders  in  the  school.  Their  tuition  was 
enclosed  in  their  letters,  and  among  those  who 
came  were  the  grandson  of  the  Emperor’s  tutor, 
graduates  of  various  degrees,  men  of  rank,  and 
the  sons  of  wealthy  gentlemen  who  had  not  yet 
obtained  degrees.  Numerous  requests  came  to 
our  graduates  to  teach  English  in  official  families, 
one  being  employed  to  teach  the  grandson  of  Li 
Hung-chang,  and  another  the  sons  of  a relative 
of  the  royal  family. 

But  when  his  reforms  led  the  Emperor  to  dis- 
pense with  useless  offices,  as  in  his  twenty-first, 


Court  Life  in  China 


146 

twenty-fourth  and  twenty-sixth  edicts,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  retrenchment,  and  to  dismiss  recalcitrant 
officials  for  disobedience  to  his  commands,  a 
howl  arose  which  was  heard  throughout  the  em- 
pire. The  six  members  of  the  Board  of  Rites  dis- 
missed in  edict  twenty-three,  with  certain  sym- 
pathizers to  give  them  face,  went  to  the  Empress 
Dowager  at  the  Summer  Palace,  represented  to 
her  that  the  boy  whom  she  had  placed  upon  the 
throne  was  steering  the  ship  of  state  to  certain 
destruction,  and  begged  that  she  would  come 
and  once  more  take  the  helm.  She  listened  to 
them  with  the  attention  and  deference  for  which 
she  has  always  been  famed,  and  then  dismissed 
them  without  any  intimation  as  to  what  her  course 
would  be. 

When  the  Emperor  heard  what  they  were  do- 
ing, he  sent  a courier  post-haste  to  call  Yiian 
Shih-kai  for  an  interview  at  the  palace.  When 
Yiian  came,  he  ordered  him  to  return  to  Tien- 
tsin, dispose  of  his  superior  officer,  the  Governor- 
General  Jung  Lu,  and  bring  the  army  corps  of 
12,500  troops  of  which  he  was  in  charge  to  Pe- 
king, surround  the  Summer  Palace,  preventing 
any  one  from  going  in  or  coming  out,  thus  ma- 
king the  Empress  Dowager  a prisoner,  and  allow- 
ing him  to  go  on  with  his  work  of  reform. 

It  is  just  here  that  we  see  the  difference  in  the 
statesmanship  of  the  Empress  Dowager  and  the 
Emperor.  When  she  appointed  these  two  offi- 


Kuang  Hsii — As  Emperor  and  Reformer  147 

dais,  one  a liberal  in  charge  of  the  army,  she 
placed  the  other,  a conservative,  as  his  superior 
officer,  so  that  one  could  not  move  without  the 
knowledge  and  consent  of  the  other,  thus  fore- 
stalling just  such  an  order  as  this.  To  obey  this 
order  of  the  boy  Emperor,  Yiian  must  commit 
two  great  crimes,  murder  and  treason,  the  one 
on  a superior  officer,  and  the  other  against  her 
who  had  appointed  him  to  office  and  who  had 
been  the  ruler  of  the  country  for  thirty-seven  years, 
either  of  which  would  have  been  sufficient  to  have 
execrated  him  not  only  in  the  eyes  of  his  own  peo- 
ple but  of  history  and  of  the  world.  Nay  more, 
had  he  obeyed  this  order,  the  conservatives  would 
have  raised  the  cry  of  rebellion,  and  an  army  ten 
times  greater  than  he  could  have  mustered,  would 
have  crushed  Yuan  and  his  little  company  of 
12,500  men,  on  the  plea  that  he  was  about  to 
take  the  throne. 

Yiian  then  did  the  only  wise  thing  he  could 
have  done.  He  went  to  Jung  Lu,  without  whose 
consent  he  had  no  right  to  move,  showed  him 
the  order,  and  asked  for  his  commands.  Jung 
Lu  told  him  to  leave  the  order  with  him,  and  as 
soon  as  Yiian  had  departed  he  took  the  train  for 
Peking,  called  on  Prince  Ching,  and  they  two 
went  to  the  Summer  Palace  and  showed  the 
order  to  Her  Majesty,  suggesting  to  her  that  it 
might  be  well  for  her  to  come  into  the  city  and 
give  him  a few  lessons  in  government. 


148  Court  Life  in  China 

As  the  Empress  Dowager  had  been  behaving 
herself  so  circumspectly  during  all  the  summer 
months,  allowing  the  Emperor  to  test  himself  as 
a ruler,  one  can  scarcely  blame  her  for  not  want- 
ing to  be  bottled  up  in  the  Summer  Palace  when 
she  had  done  nothing  to  deserve  it.  When 
therefore  this  second  delegation  of  officials,  con- 
sisting of  the  two  highest  in  rank  in  the  empire, 
came  to  request  her  to  once  more  take  charge  of 
the  government,  she  called  her  sedan  chair  and 
started  for  the  capital.  She  went  without  an 
army,  but  was  accompanied  by  those  of  her 
palace  eunuchs  on  whom  she  could  implicitly 
depend,  and  enough  of  them  to  overcome  those 
of  the  Emperor  in  case  there  should  be  trouble. 
That  force  was  necessary  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that  she  condemned  to  death  a number  of 
his  servants  after  she  had  taken  the  throne. 

When  the  Emperor  heard  that  she  was  com- 
ing he  sent  a messenger  with  letters  urging  Kang 
Yii-wei  to  flee,  and  to  devise  some  means  for 
saving  the  situation,  while  he  attempted  to  find 
refuge  for  himself  in  the  foreign  legations.  This 
however  he  failed  to  do,  but  was  taken  by  the 
Empress  Dowager,  and  his  career  as  a ruler 
ended,  and  his  life  as  a prisoner  began. 


X 

Kuang  Hsu — As  a Prisoner 


Kuang  Hsu  deserves  a place  in  history  as  the  prize 
iconoclast.  He  sent  a cold  shiver  down  the  spine  of  the 
literati  by  declaring  that  a man’s  fitness  for  office  should 
not  depend  upon  his  ability  to  write  a poem,  or  upon  the 
elegance  of  his  penmanship.  This  was  too  much.  The 
literati  argued  that  at  the  rate  at  which  the  Emperor  was 
going,  it  might  be  expected  that  he  would  do  away  with 
chop-sticks  and  dispense  with  the  queue. 

— Rounsevelle  Wildman  in  ^'China's  Open  Door." 


X 


KUANG  HSU— AS  A PRISONER 

The  year  that  Kuang  Hsii  ascended  the 
throne  a great  calamity  occurred  in 
Peking.  The  Temple  of  Heaven — the 
greatest  of  the  imperial  temples,  the  one  at 
which  the  Emperor  announces  his  accession, 
confesses  his  sins,  prays  and  gives  thanks  for  an 
abundant  harvest,  was  struck  by  lightning  and 
burned  to  the  ground.  When  the  Emperor  wor- 
ships here  it  is  as  the  representative  of  the  people, 
the  high  priest  of  the  nation,  and  his  prayers  are 
offered  for  his  country  and  not  for  himself. 
There  are  no  idols  in  this  temple,  and  his 
prayers  go  up  to  Shang-ti  the  Supreme  Being 
“ by  whom  kings  reign  and  princes  decree 
justice.”  When  therefore  instead  of  giving  rain 
Heaven  sent  down  a fiery  bolt  to  destroy  the 
temple  at  which  the  Son  of  Heaven  prays,  the 
people  were  struck  with  dismay. 

The  pale  faces  of  the  women,  the  apprehen- 
sive noddings  of  the  men,  and  the  hushed  voices 
of  our  old  Confucian  teachers  as  they  spoke  of 
the  matter,  indicated  the  concern  with  which 
they  viewed  it.  Here  was  a boy  who  had  been 

151 


152 


Court  Life  in  China 


placed  upon  the  throne  by  a woman  ; he  was  the 
same  generation  as  the  Emperor  who  had  pre- 
ceded him,  and  hence  could  not  worship  him  as 
his  ancestor.  It  augured  ill  both  for  the  Em- 
peror and  the  empire,  and  so  the  boy  Emperor 
began  his  reign  in  the  midst  of  evil  forebodings. 

During  the  nine  years  that  Kuang  Hsii  had 
nominal  control  of  affairs  a series  of  dire  calami- 
ties befell  the  empire.  Famines  as  the  result  of 
drought,  floods  from  the  overflow  of  “ China’s 
Sorrow,”  war  with  Japan,  filching  of  territory 
by  the  European  countries,  while  editorials  ap- 
peared daily  in  the  English  papers  of  the  port 
cities  to  the  effect  that  China  was  to  be  divided 
up  among  the  powers.  Then  too  Kuang  Hsii 
was  childless  and  there  was  no  hope  of  his  giving 
an  heir  to  the  throne. 

Times  and  seasons  have  their  meanings  for 
the  Chinese.  Anything  inauspicious  happening 
on  New  Year’s  day  is  indicative  of  calamity. 
Mr.  Chen,  a friend  of  mine,  had  become  a Chris- 
tian contrary  to  his  mother’s  wishes.  When  his 
first  child  was  born  it  was  a girl,  born  on  New 
Year’s  day.  His  mother  shook  her  head,  looked 
distressed,  and  said  that  nothing  but  calamity 
would  come  to  his  home.  His  second  child  was 
a boy,  but  the  old  woman  shook  her  head  again 
and  sighed  saying  that  it  would  take  more  than 
one  boy  to  avert  the  calamity  of  one’s  first  baby 
being  a girl  born  on  New  Year’s  day,  and  it  was 


Kuang  HsU — As  a Prisoner  153 

not  until  he  had  five  boys  in  succession  that  she 
was  finally  convinced. 

There  was  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  on  New  Year’s 
day  of  1898  which  foreboded  calamity  to  the  Em- 
peror. During  the  summer  of  this  year  he  began 
his  great  reform,  and  in  September  the  Empress 
Dowager  took  control  of  the  affairs  of  state  and 
Kuang  Hsii  was  put  in  prison,  never  again  to 
occupy  the  throne.  His  prison  was  his  winter 
palace,  where,  for  many  months,  he  was  confined 
in  a gilded  cage  of  a house,  on  a small  island, 
with  the  Empress  Dowager’s  eunuchs  to  guard 
him.  These  w^ere  changed  daily  lest  they  might 
sympathize  with  their  unhappy  monarch  and  de- 
vise some  means  for  his  liberation.  Each  day 
when  the  guard  was  changed,  the  drawbridge 
connecting  the  island  with  the  mainland  was  re- 
moved, leaving  the  Emperor  to  wander  about 
in  the  court  of  his  palace-prison,  or  sit  on  the 
southern  terrace  where  it  overlooked  the  lotus 
lake,  waiting,  hoping  and  perhaps  expecting 
that  his  last  appeal  to  Kang  Yii-wei  in  which  he 
said  : “ My  heart  is  filled  with  a great  sorrow 

which  pen  and  ink  cannot  describe  ; you  must  go 
abroad  at  once  and  without  a moment’s  delay 
devise  some  means  to  save  me,”  might  bring 
forth  some  fruit. 

Whether  this  confinement  interfered  with  the 
health  of  the  Emperor  or  not  it  is  impossible  to 
say,  but  from  the  first  he  was  made  to  pose  as 


154 


Court  Life  in  China 


an  invalid.  As  his  failing  health  was  constantly 
referred  to  in  the  Peking  Gasette,  the  foreigners 
began  to  fear  that  it  was  the  intention  to  dispose 
of  the  Emperor,  and  such  pressure  was  brought 
to  bear  on  the  government  as  led  them  to  allow 
the  physician  attached  to  the  French  legation 
to  enter  the  palace  and  make  an  examination  of 
His  Majesty.  He  found  nothing  that  fresh  air 
and  exercise  would  not  remedy  and  assured  the 
government  that  there  was  no  cause  for  alarm, 
and  from  that  time  we  heard  nothing  more  of  his 
precarious  condition. 

One  day  not  long  after  the  coup  d'ktat  a 
eunuch  came  rushing  into  our  compound,  his 
face  scratched  and  bleeding,  and  knocking  his 
head  on  the  ground  before  me,  begged  me  to 
save  his  life. 

“What  is  the  matter?”  I inquired. 

“ Oh  ! let  me  join  the  church  ! ” he  pleaded. 

“ What  do  you  want  to  join  the  church  for?  ” 
I asked. 

“ To  save  my  life,”  he  answered. 

“ But  what  is  this  all  about  ? ” I urged,  raising 
him  to  his  feet. 

“You  know  the  eunuch  who  came  to  you  to 
buy  books,”  he  said. 

I assured  him  that  I knew  him. 

“ Well,”  he  continued,  “ I am  a friend  of  his. 
The  Empress  Dowager  has  banished  him,  burned 
all  the  books  he  bought  for  the  Emperor,  and 


Kuang  Hsu — As  a Prisoner  155 

I am  in  danger  of  losing  my  head.  Let  me  join 
the  church,  and  thus  save  my  life.” 

All  I could  do  was  to  inform  him  that  this 
was  not  the  business  of  the  church,  and  after 
further  conversation  he  left  and  I never  saw  him 
again. 

Day  after  day  as  the  Emperor  received  the 
Peking  Gazette  on  his  lonely  island  he  saw  one 
after  another  of  his  coveted  reforms  vanish  like 
mist  before  the  pen  of  his  august  aunt.  Nor 
was  this  all,  for  often  the  rescinding  edicts  ap- 
peared under  his  own  name,  and  by  the  New 
Year,  when  he  was  brought  forth  to  receive  the 
foreign  ministers  accredited  to  his  court,  scarcely 
anything  remained  of  all  his  reforms  but  the 
Peking  University  and  the  provincial  and  other 
schools.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  therefore 
that  he  was  reticent  and  despondent.  What 
promises  of  good  behaviour  it  was  necessary 
for  him  to  make  before  he  was  even  allowed 
this  much  liberty,  it  is  useless  for  us  to  con- 
jecture. 

Following  this  audience  the  Empress  Dowager, 
who  up  to  this  time  had  been  seen  by  no  foreigner 
except  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia,  decided  to  re- 
ceive the  wives  of  the  foreign  ministers.  Her 
motives  for  this  new  move  it  is  impossible  to  de- 
termine. It  may  have  been  to  ascertain  how  the 
foreign  governments  would  treat  her  who  had 
been  reported  to  have  calmly  ousted  “ their  great 


Court  Life  in  China 


156 

and  good  friend  the  Emperor,”  to  whom  their 
ministers  were  accredited.  Or  it  may  have  been 
that  she  hoped  by  this  stroke  of  diplomacy  to 
gain  some  measure  of  recognition  as  head  of  the 
government.  She  would  at  least  see  how  she 
was  regarded. 

The  audience  was  an  unqualified  success.  The 
seven  ladies  received  were  charmed  by  the  gra- 
cious manner  of  their  imperial  hostess,  who  as- 
sured them  each  as  she  touched  her  lips  to  the 
tea  which  she  presented  to  them  that  “ we  are  all 
one  family,”  and  up  to  that  period  of  her  life 
there  was  nothing  to  indicate  that  she  did  not 
feel  that  the  sentiment  she  expressed  was  true. 
Up  to  the  time  of  the  coup  d' Hat,  as  Dr.  Martin 
says,  “ she  herself  was  noted  for  progressive 
ideas.”  “ It  will  not  be  denied  by  any  one,” 
says  Colonel  Denby,  “that  the  improvement  and 
progress”  described  in  his  first  volume,  “are 
mainly  due  to  the  will  and  power  of  the  Empress 
Regent.  To  her  own  people,  up  to  this  period  in 
her  career,  she  was  kind  and  merciful,  and  to 
foreigners  she  was  just.”  From  the  time  of  her 
return  to  the  capital  after  their  flight  in  1900  till 
the  time  of  her  death  she  became  one  of  the 
greatest  reformers,  if  not  the  greatest,  that  has 
ever  sat  upon  the  dragon  throne.  One  cannot 
but  wish  therefore  in  the  interests  of  sentiment 
that  it  were  possible  to  overlook  many  things 
she  did  from  1898  to  1900,  which  in  the  interests 


157 


Kuang  Hsii — As  a Prisoner 

of  truth  it  will  be  impossible  to  disregard.  Never- 
theless we  should  remember  that  she  was  driven 
to  these  things  by  the  filching  of  her  territory  by 
the  foreigners,  and  by  the  false  pretentions  of  the 
superstitious  Boxers  and  their  leaders,  and  in  the 
hope  of  preserving  her  country. 

Her  first  act  after  imprisoning  Kuang  Hsii  was 
to  offer  a large  reward  for  his  adviser  Kang  Yii- 
wei  either  alive  or  dead.  Failing  to  get  him, 
“ she  seized  his  younger  brother  Kang  Kuang- 
jen,  and  wdth  five  other  noble  and  patriotic 
young  men  of  ability  and  high  promise,  he  was 
beheaded  September  28th,  while  protesting  that 
though  they  might  easily  be  slain,  multitudes  of 
others  would  arise  to  take  their  places.”  One  of 
my  young  Chinese  friends  who  watched  this  pro- 
cession on  its  way  to  the  execution  grounds  told 
me  that, — 

“ The  scene  was  impossible  to  describe.  These 
five  young  reformers,”  after  expressing  the  senti- 
ments quoted  above  from  Dr.  Smith,  “reviled  the 
Empress  Dowager  and  the  conservatives  in  the 
most  blood-curdling  manner.” 

I have  already  spoken  of  Wang  Chao  the 
secretary  of  the  Board  of  Rites  who  presented 
the  memorial  which  caused  the  dismissal  of  the 
six  officials  of  that  body,  and,  indirectly,  the  fall 
of  the  Emperor.  Some  time  before  writing  this 
petition  he  called  at  our  home  requesting  Mrs. 
Headland  to  go  and  see  his  mother  who  was  ill. 


Court  Life  in  China 


158 

When  his  mother  recovered  he  sent  her  to 
Shanghai,  and  at  the  time  of  the  coup  d’itat  he 
failed  to  get  out  of  the  city  and  went  into  hiding. 
Some  days  afterwards  a closed  cart  drove  up  to 
our  home  and  to  our  astonishment  he  stepped 
forth.  We  expressed  our  surprise  that  he  was 
still  in  Peking,  and  asked  : 

“ Has  the  Empress  Dowager  ceased  prose- 
cuting her  search  for  you  reformers  ? ” 

“ Not  yet,”  he  answered. 

“ And  what  is  she  doing  ? ” we  inquired. 

“ Killing  some,  banishing  others,  driving  many 
away  from  the  capital,  while  still  others  are  go- 
ing into  self-imposed  exile.” 

“ Does  the  Emperor  know  anything  about 
this  ? ” we  inquired. 

“ No  doubt,”  he  replied.  ” Everybody  knows 
it,  why  not  he  ? ” 

“That  will  make  his  imprisonment  all  the 
harder  to  bear,”  we  suggested. 

“ Quite  right,”  he  answered. 

“ There  is  general  alarm  in  the  city  that  the 
Emperor  himself  will  be  disposed  of ; what  do 
you  think  about  it  ? ” 

“ Who  can  tell  ? He  has  not  a friend  in  the 
palace  except  the  first  concubine,  and,  I am  told, 
that  she  like  himself  is  kept  in  close  confinement. 
The  Empress  stands  by  her  aunt,  the  Empress 
Dowager,  while  the  eunuchs  now  are  all  her 
tools.  The  officials  who  go  into  the  palace  to 


Kuang  Hsii — As  a Prisoner  159 

audiences  are  all  conservative  and  hence  against 
him,  though  I suppose  they  never  see  him.” 

“ Do  you  suppose  he  ever  sees  the  edicts  is- 
sued in  his  name  ? ” 

“Not  at  all.  They  are  made  by  the  conserva- 
tives and  the  Empress  Dowager  and  issued  with- 
out his  knowledge.” 

“And  what  do  you  propose  to  do?”  we  in- 
quired. 

“ I shall  leave  for  Shanghai  as  soon  as  I can 
safely  do  so,”  he  replied. 

Before  the  year  had  passed  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager had  been  induced  or  compelled  to  select  a 
new  Emperor.  We  cannot  believe  that  she  did 
it  of  her  own  free  will,  and  for  several  reasons. 
First,  the  child  selected  was  the  son  and  the 
grandson  of  ultra  conservative  princes,  and  we 
cannot  but  believe  that  as  she  had  placed  herself 
in  the  hands  of  the  conservative  party,  it  was 
their  selection  rather  than  hers.  Second,  it  must 
have  been  a humiliation  to  her  ever  since  she 
discovered  that  her  nephew,  whom  she  had  se- 
lected and  placed  upon  the  throne  in  order  to 
keep  the  succession  in  her  own  family,  being  the 
same  generation  as  her  son  who  had  died,  could 
not  worship  him  as  his  ancestor,  and  hence  could 
not  legally  occupy  the  throne,  though  as  a matter 
of  fact  such  a condition  is  not  unknown  in  Chi- 
nese history. 

But  if  her  humiliation  was  great,  that  of  our 


l6o  Court  Life  in  China 

boy-prisoner  was  still  greater,  for  he  was  com- 
pelled to  witness  an  edict,  proclaimed  in  his  own 
name,  which  made  him  say  that  as  there  was  no 
hope  of  his  having  a child  of  his  own  to  succeed 
him,  he  had  requested  the  Empress  Dowager  to 
select  a suitable  person  who  should  be  proclaimed 
as  the  successor  of  Tung  Chih,  his  predecessor, 
thus  turning  himself  out  of  the  imperial  line. 
That  this  could  not  have  been  her  choice  is  evi- 
denced, further,  by  the  fact  that  just  as  soon  as 
she  had  once  more  regained  her  power,  she  sur- 
rounded herself  with  progressive  officials,  turned 
out  all  the  great  conservatives  except  Jung  Lu, 
and  dispossessing  the  son  of  Prince  Tuan,  at  the 
time  of  her  death  selected  her  sister’s  grandchild 
and  proclaimed  him  successor  to  her  son  and 
heir  to  the  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii,  in  the  following 
edict : 

“Inasmuch  as  the  Emperor  Tung  Chih  had  no 
issue,  on  the  fifth  day  of  the  twelfth  moon  of  that 
reign  (January  12,  1875)  an  edict  was  promul- 
gated to  the  effect  that  if  the  late  Emperor  Kuang 
Hsii  should  have  a son,  the  said  Prince  should 
carry  on  the  succession  as  the  heir  of  Tung  Chih. 
But  now  the  late  Emperor  has  ascended  upon  the 
dragon  to  be  a guest  on  high,  leaving  no  son, 
and  there  is  no  course  open  but  to  appoint  Pu  I, 
the  son  of  Tsai  Feng,  the  Prince  Regent,  as  the 
successor  to  Tung  Chih,  and  also  as  heir  to  the 
Emperor  Kuang  Hsii,’’  which  is  quite  in  keeping 


Kuang  Hsii — As  a Prisoner  i6i 

with  the  conduct  and  character  of  the  Empress 
Dowager  all  her  life  except  those  two  bad  years. 

During  the  days  and  weeks  following  the  dis- 
possession of  Kuang  Hsii  of  the  throne,  in  1899 
many  decrees  appeared  which  signified  that  at 
no  distant  date  he  would  be  superseded  by  the 
son  of  Prince  Tuan,  The  foreign  ministers  began 
again  to  look  grave.  They  spoke  openly  of  their 
fear  that  Kuang  Hsii’s  days  were  numbered. 
They  pressed  their  desire  for  the  usual  New 
Year’s  audience,  and  once  more  the  imprisoned 
monarch  was  brought  forth  and  made  to  sit  upon 
the  throne  and  receive  them.  But  when  the  la- 
dies asked  for  an  audience  they  were  refused,  the 
Empress  Dowager  being  too  busy  with  affairs  of 
state.  She  was  at  that  time  seriously  consider- 
ing whether  or  not  the  government  should  cast 
in  its  lot  with  the  Boxers  and  drive  all  the  for- 
eigners with  all  their  productions  into  the  eastern 
sea. 

One  of  the  princesses  told  Mrs.  Headland  that 
before  coming  to  a decision  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager called  the  hereditary  and  imperial  princes 
into  the  palace  to  consult  with  them  as  to  what 
they  would  better  do.  She  met  them  all  face  to 
face,  the  Emperor  and  Prince  Tuan  standing 
near  the  throne.  She  explained  to  them  the  rav- 
ages of  the  foreigners,  how  they  were  gradually 
taking  one  piece  after  another  of  Chinese  terri- 
tory. 


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“ And  now,”  she  continued,  “ we  have  these 
patriotic  braves  who  claim  to  be  impervious  to 
swords  and  bullets  ; what  shall  we  do  ? Shall  we 
cast  in  our  lot  with  their  millions  and  drive  all 
these  foreigners  out  of  China  or  not  ? ” 

Prince  Tuan,  as  father  of  the  heir-apparent, 
uneducated,  superstitious  and  ignorant  of  all  for- 
eign affairs,  then  spoke.  He  said  : 

“ I have  seen  the  Boxers  drilling,  I have  heard 
their  incantations,  and  I believe  that  they  will  be 
able  to  effect  this  much  desired  end.  They  will 
either  kill  the  foreigners  or  drive  them  out  of  the 
country  and  no  more  will  dare  to  come,  and  thus 
we  will  be  rid  of  them,” 

The  hereditary  princes  were  then  asked  for  an 
expression  of  opinion.  The  majority  of  them 
knew  little  of  foreigners  and  foreign  countries, 
and  as  Prince  Tuan,  the  father  of  the  future  Em- 
peror, had  expresssd  himself  so  strongly,  they 
hesitated  to  offer  an  adverse  opinion.  But  when 
it  came  to  Prince  Su,  a man  of  strong  character, 
widely  versed  in  foreign  affairs,  and  of  independ- 
ent thought,  he  opposed  the  measure  most  vig- 
orously. 

“Who,”  he  asked,  “are  these  Boxers?  Who 
are  their  leaders  ? How  can  they,  a mere  rabble, 
hope  to  vanquish  the  armies  of  foreign  nations?’ 

Prince  Tuan  answered  that  “ by  their  incanta- 
tions they  were  able  to  produce  heaven-sent  sol- 
diers.” 


Kuang  Hsli — As  a Prisoner  163 

Prince  Su  denounced  such  superstition  as  child- 
ish. But  when  after  further  argument  between 
him  and  Prince  Tuan  the  Empress  Dowager  as- 
sured him  that  she  had  had  them  in  the  palace 
and  had  witnessed  their  prowess,  he  said  no  more. 

The  imperial  princes  were  then  consulted,  but 
seeing  how  Prince  Su  had  fared  they  were  either 
in  favour  of  the  measure  or  non-committal.  Fi- 
nally the  Empress  Dowager  appealed  to  Prince 
Ching  who,  more  diplomatic  than  the  younger 
princes,  answered : 

“ I consider  it  a most  dangerous  undertaking, 
and  I would  advise  against  it.  But  if  Your  Maj- 
esty decides  to  cast  in  your  lot  with  the  Boxers  I 
will  do  all  in  my  power  to  further  your  wishes.” 

It  is  not  a matter  of  wonder  therefore  that  the 
Empress  Dowager  should  be  led  into  such  a 
foolish  measure  as  the  Boxer  movement,  when 
the  Prince  who  had  been  president  of  the  Foreign 
Office  for  twenty-five  years  could  so  weakly  ac- 
quiesce in  such  an  undertaking. 

” The  Emperor,”  said  the  Princess,  “ was  not 
asked  for  an  expression  of  his  opinion  on  this  oc- 
casion, but  when  he  saw  that  the  Boxer  leaders 
had  won  the  day  he  burst  into  tears  and  left  the 
room.” 

Similar  meetings  were  held  in  the  palace  on 
two  other  occasions,  when  the  Emperor  implored 
that  they  make  no  attempt  to  fight  all  the  foreign 
nations,  for  said  he,  “ the  foreigners  are  stronger 


Court  Life  in  China 


164 

than  we,  both  in  money  and  in  arms,  while  their 
soldiers  are  much  better  drilled  and  equipped  in 
every  way.  If  we  undertake  this  and  fail  as  we 
are  sure  to  do,  it  will  be  impossible  to  make  peace 
with  the  foreigners  and  our  country  will  be  di- 
vided up  amongst  them.”  His  pleadings,  how- 
ever, were  disregarded,  and  after  the  meeting  was 
over,  he  had  to  return  to  his  little  island,  where 
for  eight  weeks  he  was  compelled  to  sit  listening 
to  the  rattling  guns,  booming  cannons  and  burst- 
ing firecrackers,  for  the  Boxers  seemed  to  hope 
to  exterminate  the  foreigners  by  noise.  He  must 
have  felt  from  the  books  he  had  studied  that  it 
could  only  result  in  disaster  to  his  own  people. 

When  the  allies  reached  Peking  and  the  Boxers 
capitulated  the  Emperor  was  taken  out  of  his 
prison  and  compelled  to  flee  with  the  court. 

“What  do  you  think  of  your  bullet-proof 
Boxers  now?  ” one  can  imagine  they  hear  him  say- 
ing to  his  august  aunt,  as  he  sees  her  cutting  off 
her  long  finger  nails,  dressing  herself  in  blue  cot- 
ton garments,  and  climbing  into  a common  street 
cart  as  an  ordinary  servant,  “Wouldn’t  it  have 
been  better  to  have  taken  my  advice  and  that  of 
Hsii  Ching-cheng  and  Yiian  Chang  instead  of 
having  put  them  to  death  for  endeavouring  in 
their  earnestness  to  save  the  country  ? What 
about  your  old  conservative  friends  ? Can  they 
be  depended  upon  as  pillars  of  state  ? ” Or  some 
other  “ I-told-you-so  ” language  of  this  kind. 


Kuang  Hsii — As  a Prisoner  165 

From  their  exile  in  Hsian  decrees  continued  to 
be  issued  in  his  name,  and  when  affairs  began  to 
be  adjusted,  and  the  allies  insisted  on  setting 
aside  forever  the  pretentions  of  the  anti-foreign 
Prince  Tuan  and  his  son,  banishing  the  former 
to  perpetual  exile,  our  hopes  ran  high  that  the 
Emperor  would  be  restored  to  his  throne.  But 
to  our  disappointment  the  framers  of  the  Protocol 
contented  themselves  with  the  clause  that : 
“ Rational  intercourse  shall  be  permitted  with  the 
Emperor  as  in  Western  countries,”  and  with  the 
return  of  the  court  in  1902  he  was  still  a prisoner. 

Every  one  who  has  written  about  audiences 
with  the  Empress  Dowager  tells  how  “ the  Em- 
peror was  seated  near,  though  a little  below  her,” 
but  they  never  tell  why.  The  reason  is  not  far 
to  seek.  The  world  must  not  know  that  he  was 
a prisoner  in  the  palace.  They  must  see  him 
near  the  throne,  but  they  may  not  speak  to  him. 
The  addresses  of  the  ministers  were  passed  to  her 
by  her  kneeling  statesmen,  and  it  was  they  who 
replied.  No  notice  was  taken  of  the  Emperor 
though  he  seemed  to  be  in  excellent  health.  The 
Empress  Dowager  however  still  relieved  him  of 
the  burdens  of  the  government,  and  continued  to 
“teach  him  how  to  govern.” 

“ I have  seen  the  Emperor  many  times,”  Mrs. 
Headland  tells  me,  “and  have  spent  many  hours 
in  his  presence,  and  every  time  we  were  in  the 
palace  the  Emperor  accompanied  the  Empress 


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Dowager — not  by  her  side  but  a few  steps  be- 
hind her.  When  she  sat,  he  always  remained 
standing  a few  paces  in  the  rear,  and  never  pre- 
sumed to  sit  unless  asked  by  her  to  do  so.  He 
was  a lonely  person,  with  his  delicate,  well-bred 
features  and  his  simple  dark  robes,  and  in  the 
midst  of  these  fawning  eunuchs,  brilliant  court 
ladies,  and  bejewelled  Empress  Dowager  he  was 
an  inconspicuous  figure.  No  minister  of  state 
touched  forehead  to  floor  as  he  spoke  in  hushed 
and  trembling  voice  to  him,  no  obsequious 
eunuchs  knelt  when  coming  into  his  presence  ; 
but  on  the  contrary  I have  again  and  again  seen 
him  crowded  against  the  wall  by  these  cringing 
servants  of  Her  Majesty. 

“ One  day  while  we  were  in  the  palace  a 
pompous  eunuch  had  stepped  before  the  Em- 
peror quite  obliterating  him.  I saw  Kuang  Hsii 
put  his  hands  on  the  large  man’s  shoulders,  and 
quietly  turn  him  around,  that  he  might  see  be- 
fore whom  he  stood.  There  were  no  signs  of 
anger  on  his  face,  but  rather  a gentle,  pathetic 
smile  as  he  looked  up  at  the  big  servant.  I ex- 
pected to  see  him  fall  upon  his  knees  before  the 
Emperor,  but  instead,  he  only  moved  a few 
inches  to  the  left,  and  remained  still  in  front  of 
His  Majesty.  Never  when  in  the  palace  have  I 
seen  a knee  bend  to  the  Emperor,  except  that  of 
the  foreigner  when  greeting  him  or  bidding  him 
farewell.  This  was  the  more  noticeable  as  states- 


Kuang  Hsu — As  a Prisoner  167 

men  and  eunuchs  alike  fell  upon  their  knees 
every  time  they  spoke  to  the  Empress  Dowager. 

“ The  first  time  I saw  him  his  great,  pathetic, 
wistful  eyes  followed  me  for  days.  I could  not 
forget  them,  and  1 determined  that  if  I ever  had 
opportunity  I would  say  a few  words  to  him  let- 
ting him  know  that  the  world  was  resting  in 
hope  of  his  carrying  out  the  great  reforms  he 
had  instituted.  But  he  was  so  carefully  guarded 
and  kept  under  such  strict  surveillance  that  I 
never  found  an  opportunity  to  speak  to  him. 
Nor  did  he  ever  speak  to  the  visitors,  court 
ladies,  the  Empress  Dowager,  or  attendants  dur- 
ing all  the  hours  we  remained. 

“ One  of  the  ministers  told  me  that  one  day 
after  an  audience,  when  the  Empress  Dowager 
and  the  Emperor  had  stepped  down  from  the 
dais,  Her  Majesty  was  engaged  in  conversation 
with  one  of  his  colleagues,  and  as  the  Emperor 
stood  near  by,  he  made  some  remark  to  him. 
Immediately  the  Empress  Dowager  turned  from 
the  one  to  whom  she  had  been  talking  and 
made  answer  for  the  Emperor. 

“ On  one  occasion  when  there  were  but  four 
of  us  in  the  palace,  and  we  were  all  comfortably 
seated,  the  Emperor  standing  a few  paces  be- 
hind the  Empress  Dowager,  she  began  discuss- 
ing the  Boxer  movement,  lamenting  the  loss  of 
her  long  finger  nails,  and  various  good-luck 
gourds  of  which  she  was  fond.  The  Emperor, 


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probably  becoming  weary  of  a conversation  in 
which  he  had  no  part,  quietly  withdrew  by  a 
side  entrance  to  the  theatre  which  was  playing 
at  the  time.  For  some  moments  the  Empress 
Dowager  did  not  notice  his  absence,  but  the  in- 
stant she  discovered  he  was  gone,  a look  of 
anxiety  overspread  her  features,  and  she  turned 
to  the  head  eunuch,  Li  Lien-ying,  and  in  an 
authoritative  tone  asked  : ‘ Where  is  the  Em- 

peror ? ’ There  was  a scurry  among  the  eunuchs, 
and  they  were  sent  hither  and  thither  to  inquire. 
After  a few  moments  they  returned,  saying  that 
he  was  in  the  theatre.  The  look  of  anxiety 
passed  from  her  face  as  a cloud  passes  from  be- 
fore the  sun — and  several  of  the  eunuchs  re- 
mained at  the  theatre. 

“ I am  told  that  at  times  the  Empress 
Dowager  invites  the  Emperor  to  dine  with  her, 
and  on  such  occasions  he  is  forced  to  kneel  at 
the  table  at  which  she  is  seated,  eating  only 
what  she  gives  him.  It  is  an  honour  which  he 
does  not  covet,  but  which  he  dare  not  decline 
for  fear  of  giving  offense.” 


XI 

Prince  Chiin — The  Regent 


Prince  Chun  the  Regent  of  China  gave  a remarkable 
luncheon  at  the  Winter  Palace  to-day  to  the  foreign  envoys 
who  gathered  here  to  attend  the  funeral  ceremonies  of  the 
late  Emperor  Kuang  Hsu.  The  repast  was  served  in  for- 
eign style.  Among  the  Chinese  present  were  Prince  Ching, 
former  president  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  now 
adviser  to  the  Naval  Department ; Prince  Tsai  Chen,  a son 
of  Prince  Ching,  who  was  at  one  time  president  of  the 
Board  of  Commerce  ; Prince  Su,  chief  of  the  Naval  De- 
partment ; and  Liaing  Tung-yen,  president  of  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Affairs.  After  the  entertainment  the  envoys  ex- 
pressed themselves  as  unusually  impressed  with  the  person- 
ality of  the  Regent. 


— Daily  Press. 


XI 

PRINCE  CHON—THE  REGENT 


t ■ ^HE  selection  of  Prince  Chiin  as  Regent 
II  for  the  Chinese  empire  during  the  minor- 
ity  of  his  son,  Pu  I,  the  new  Emperor, 
would  seem  to  be  the  wisest  choice  that  could  be 
made  at  the  present  time.  In  the  first  place,  he 
is  the  younger  brother  of  Kuang  Hsii,  the  late 
Emperor,  and  was  in  sympathy  with  all  the  re- 
forms the  latter  undertook  to  introduce  in  1898. 
If  Kuang  Hsii  had  chosen  his  successor,  having 
no  son  of  his  own,  there  is  no  reason  why  he 
should  not  have  selected  Pu  I to  occupy  the 
throne,  with  Prince  Chun  as  Regent,  for  there  is 
no  other  prince  in  whom  he  could  have  reposed 
greater  confidence  of  having  all  his  reform  meas- 
ures carried  to  a successful  issue ; and  a brother 
with  whom  he  had  always  lived  in  sympathy 
would  be  more  likely  to  continue  his  policy  than 
any  one  else. 

But,  in  the  second  place,  as  we  may  suppose. 
Prince  Chiin  was  selected  by  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager, whatever  the  edicts  issued,  and  will  thus 
have  the  confidence  of  the  party  of  which  she  has 
been  the  leader.  It  is  quite  wrong  to  suppose 

171 


172 


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that  this  is  the  conservative  party,  or  even  a con- 
servative party.  China  has  both  reform  and  con- 
servative parties,  but,  in  addition  to  these,  she 
has  many  wise  men  and  great  officials  who  are 
neither  radical  reformers  nor  ultra-conservatives. 
It  was  these  men  with  whom  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager allied  herself  after  the  Boxer  troubles  of  1900. 

These  men  were  Li  Hung-chang,  Chang  Chih- 
tung,  Yiian  Shih-kai,  Prince  Ching,  and  others, 
and  it  is  they  who,  in  ten  years,  with  the  Empress 
Dowager,  put  into  operation,  in  a statesmanlike 
way,  all  the  reforms  that  Kuang  Hsii,  with  his 
hot-headed  young  radical  advisers,  attempted  to 
force  upon  the  country  in  as  many  weeks.  There 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  Prince  Chiin,  the 
present  Regent,  has  the  support  of  all  the  wiser 
and  better  element  of  the  Reform  party,  as  well 
as  those  great  men  who  have  been  successful  in 
tiding  China  over  the  ten  most  difficult  years  of 
her  history,  while  the  ultra-conservatives  at  this 
late  date  are  too  few  or  too  weak  to  deserve  se- 
rious consideration.  We,  therefore,  think  that 
the  choice  of  Pu  I as  Emperor,  with  Prince 
Chiin  as  Regent,  whether  by  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager, the  Emperor,  or  both,  was,  all  things  con- 
sidered, the  best  selection  that  could  have  been 
made. 

Prince  Chiin  is  the  son  of  the  Seventh  Prince, 
the  nephew  of  the  Emperor  Hsien  Feng  and  the 
Empress  Dowager,  and  grandson  of  the  Emperor 


MANCHU  PRINCESSES  AT  A LUNCHEON  AT  THE  AMERICAN  LEGATION 


Prince  Chiin — The  Regent  173 

Tao  Kuang.  He  has  a fine  face,  clear  eye,  firm 
mouth,  with  a tendency  to  reticence.  He  carries 
himself  very  straight,  and  while  below  the  aver- 
age in  height,  is  every  inch  a prince.  He  is  dig- 
nified, intelligent,  and,  though  not  loquacious, 
never  at  a loss  for  a topic  of  conversation.  He 
is  not  inclined  to  Smalltalk,  but  when  among  men 
of  his  own  rank,  he  does  not  hesitate  to  indulge 
in  bits  of  humour. 

This  was  rather  amusingly  illustrated  at  a din- 
ner given  by  the  late  Major  Conger,  American 
minister  to  China.  Major  and  Mrs.  Conger  in- 
troduced many  innovations  into  the  social  life  of 
Peking,  and  none  more  important  than  the  din- 
ners and  luncheons  given  to  the  princes  and  high 
officials,  and  also  to  the  princesses  and  ladies  of 
the  court.  In  1904,  I was  invited  to  dine  with 
Major  Conger  and  help  entertain  Prince  Chiin, 
Prince  Pu  Lun,  Prince  Ching,  Governor  Hu,  Na 
T’ung,  and  a number  of  other  princes  and  offi- 
cials of  high  rank.  I sat  between  Prince  Chiin 
and  Governor  Hu.  Having  met  them  both  on 
several  former  occasions,  I was  not  a stranger  to 
either  of  them,  and  as  they  were  well  acquainted 
with  each  other,  though  one  was  a Manchu  prince 
and  the  other  a Chinese  official,  conversation 
was  easy  and  natural. 

We  talked,  of  course,  in  Chinese  only,  of  the 
improvements  and  advantages  that  railroads 
bring  to  a country,  for  Governor  Hu,  among 


174  Court  Life  in  China 

other  things,  was  the  superintendent  of  the  Im- 
perial Railways  of  north  China.  This  led  us  to 
speak  of  the  relative  comforts  of  travel  by  land 
and  by  sea,  for  Prince  Chiin  had  gone  half  round 
the  world  and  back.  We  listened  to  the  Amer- 
ican minister  toasting  the  young  Emperor  of 
China,  his  princes,  and  his  subjects  ; and  then  to 
Prince  Ching  toasting  the  young  President  of 
the  United  States,  his  officials,  and  his  people,  in 
a most  dignified  and  eloquent  manner.  And 
then  as  the  buzz  of  conversation  went  round  the 
table  again,  and  perhaps  because  of  their  having 
spoken  of  the  young  Emperor  and  the  young 
President,  I turned  to  Governor  Hu,  who  had  an 
unusually  long,  white  beard  which  reached  al- 
most to  his  waist  as  he  sat  at  table,  and  said : 

“ Your  Excellency,  what  is  your  honourable 
age  ? ” 

“ I was  seventy  years  old  my  last  birthday,”  he 
replied. 

” And  he  is  still  as  strong  as  either  of  us  young 
men,”  said  I,  turning  to  Prince  Chiin. 

“ Oh,  yes,”  said  the  Prince  ; “ he  is  good  for 
ten  years  yet,  and  by  that  time  he  can  use  his 
beard  as  an  apron.” 

“ It  is  an  ill  wind  that  blows  no  one  good,”  says 
the  proverb,  and  this  was  never  more  forcibly  il- 
lustrated than  in  the  case  of  the  death  of  the 
lamented  Baron  von  Kettler.  Had  it  not  been 
for  this  unfortunate  occurrence.  Prince  Chiin 


PRINCE  CHUN  AND  HIS  DELEGATION 

Sent  to  apologize  to  the  German  Emperor  for  the  murder  of  Baron  von  Kettler 


175 


Prince  ChUn — The  Regent 

would  not  have  been  sent  to  Germany  to  convey 
the  apologies  of  the  Chinese  government  to  the 
German  Emperor,  and  he  would  thus  never  have 
had  the  opportunity  of  a trip  to  Europe  ; and  the 
world  might  once  more  have  beheld  a regent  on 
the  dragon  throne  who  had  never  seen  anything 
a hundred  miles  from  his  own  capital. 

Prince  Chiin  started  on  this  journey  with  such 
a retinue  as  only  the  Chinese  government  can 
furnish.  He  had  educated  foreign  physicians  and 
interpreters,  and,  like  the  great  Viceroy  Li  Hung- 
chang,  he  had  a round  fan  with  the  Eastern  hem- 
isphere painted  on  one  side  and  the  Western  on 
the  other,  and  the  route  he  was  to  travel  distinctly 
outlined  on  both,  with  all  the  places  he  was  to  pass 
through,  or  to  stop  at  on  the  trip,  plainly  marked. 
He  was  intelligent  enough  to  observe  everything 
of  importance  in  the  ports  through  which  he 
passed,  and  it  was  interesting  to  hear  him  tell  of 
the  things  he  had  seen,  and  his  characterization 
of  some  of  the  people  he  had  visited. 

“ What  did  Your  Highness  think  of  the  rela- 
tive characteristics  of  the  Germans  and  the 
French,  as  you  saw  them  ? ” I asked  him  at  the 
same  dinner. 

“ The  people  in  Berlin,”  said  he,  ” get  up  early 
in  the  morning  and  go  to  their  business,  while 
the  people  in  Paris  get  up  in  the  evening  and  go 
to  the  theatre.” 

This  may  have  been  a bit  exaggerated,  but  it 


176  Court  Life  in  China 

indicated  that  the  Prince  did  not  travel,  as  many 
do  on  their  first  trip,  with  his  mouth  open  and 
his  eyes  closed. 

After  his  return  to  Peking  he  purchased  a 
brougham,  as  did  most  of  the  other  leading  offi- 
cials and  princes  at  the  close  of  the  Boxer  troubles, 
and  driving  about  in  this  carriage,  he  has  been  a 
familiar  figure  from  that  time  until  the  present. 
As  straws  show  the  direction  of  the  wind,  these 
incidents  ought  to  indicate  that  Prince  Chiin  will 
not  be  a conservative  to  the  detriment  of  his 
government,  or  to  the  hindrance  of  China’s  prog- 
ress. 

It  is  a well-known  fact  that  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager, in  addition  to  her  other  duties,  took  charge 
of  the  arrangement  of  the  marriages  of  all  her 
nieces  and  nephews.  One  of  her  favourite 
Manchu  officials,  and  indeed  one  of  the  greatest 
Manchus  of  recent  years,  though  very  conserva- 
tive, and  hence  little  associated  with  foreigners, 
was  Jung  Lu.  As  the  affianced  bride  of  Prince 
Chiin  had  drowned  herself  in  a well  during  the 
Boxer  troubles,  the  Empress  Dowager  engaged 
him  to  the  daughter  of  the  lady  who  had 
been  Jung  Lu’s  first  concubine,  but  who,  as  his 
consort  was  dead,  was  raised  to  the  position  of 
wife. 

“ This  Lady  Jung,”  says  Mrs.  Headland,  “ is 
some  forty  years  of  age,  very  pretty,  talkative, 
and  vivacious,  and  she  told  me  with  a good  deal 


Prince  Chiin — The  Regent  177 

of  pride,  on  one  occasion,  of  the  engagement  of 
her  son  to  the  sixth  daughter  of  Prince  Ching. 
And  then  with  equal  enthusiasm  she  told  me  how 
her  daughter  had  been  married  to  Prince  Chiin, 
‘ which  of  course  relates  me  with  the  two  most 
powerful  families  of  the  empire.’ 

“ I have  met  the  Princess  Chiin  on  several  oc- 
casions at  the  audiences  in  the  palace,  at  lunch- 
eons with  Mrs.  Conger,  at  a feast  with  the  Im- 
perial Princess,  at  a tea  with  the  Princess  Tsai 
Chen,  and  at  the  palaces  of  many  of  the  prin- 
cesses. She  is  a very  quiet  little  woman,  and 
looked  almost  infantile  as  she  gazed  at  one  with 
her  big,  black  eyes.  She  is  very  circumspect  in 
her  movements,  and  with  such  a mother  and 
father  as  she  had,  I should  think  may  be  very 
brilliant.  Naturally  she  had  to  be  specially  dig- 
nified and  sedate  at  these  public  functions,  as  she 
and  the  Imperial  Princess  were  the  only  ones  be- 
longing to  the  old  imperial  household,  the  de- 
scendants of  Tao  Kuang,  who  were  intimately  as- 
sociated with  the  Empress  Dowager’s  court. 
She  is  small,  but  pretty,  and,  as  I have  indicated, 
quiet  and  reticent.  She  was  fond  of  her  father, 
and  naturally  fond  of  the  Empress  Dowager,  who 
selected  her  as  a wife  for  her  favourite  nephew. 
Prince  Chiin,  to  whom  she  promised  the  succes- 
sion at  the  time  of  their  marriage.  After  her 
father’s  death,  and  while  she  was  in  mourning, 
she  was  invited  into  the  palace  by  the  Empress 


lyS  Court  Life  in  China 

Dowager,  where  she  appeared  wearing  blue 
shoes,  the  colour  used  in  second  mourning. 

“ ‘ Why  do  you  wear  blue  shoes?  ’ asked  Her 
Majesty. 

“ ‘ On  account  of  the  death  of  my  father,’  re- 
plied the  Princess. 

“ ‘ And  do  you  mourn  over  your  dead  father 
more  than  you  rejoice  over  being  in  the  presence 
of  your  living  ruler  ? ’ the  Empress  Dowager  in- 
quired. 

“It  is  unnecessary  to  add  that  the  Princess 
changed  the  blue  shoes  for  red  ones  while  she 
remained  in  the  palace,  so  careful  has  the  Em- 
press Dowager  always  been  of  the  respect  due  to 
her  dignity  and  position.” 

Having  promised  the  regency  to  Prince  Chiin, 
we  may  infer  that  the  Empress  Dowager  would 
do  all  in  her  power  to  prepare  him  to  occupy  the 
position  with  credit  to  himself,  and  in  the  hope 
that  he  would  continue  the  policy  which  she  has 
followed  during  the  last  ten  years.  Whenever, 
therefore,  opportunity  offered  for  a prince  to 
represent  the  government  at  any  public  function 
with  which  foreigners  were  connected,  Prince 
Chiin  was  asked  or  appointed  to  attend.  I have 
said  that  it  was  the  murder  of  the  German  min- 
ister, Baron  von  Kettler,  that  gave  Prince  Chiin 
his  opportunity  to  see  the  world.  And  just  here 
I might  add  that  an  account  of  the  massacre  of 
Von  Kettler,  sent  from  Canton,  was  published  in 


179 


Prince  ChUn — The  Regent 

a New  York  paper  three  days  before  it  occurred. 
This  indicates  that  his  death  had  been  premedi- 
tated and  ordered  by  some  high  authorities, — 
perhaps  Prince  Tuan  or  Prince  Chuang,  Boxer 
leaders, — because  the  Germans  had  taken  the 
port  of  Kiaochou,  and  had  compelled  the  Chinese 
government  to  promise  to  allow  them  to  open  all 
the  mines  and  build  all  the  railroads  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Shantung. 

After  the  Boxer  troubles  were  settled,  the 
Germans,  at  the  expense  of  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment, erected  a large  stone  memorial  arch  on  the 
spot  where  Von  Kettler  fell.  At  its  dedication, 
members  of  the  diplomatic  corps  of  all  the  lega- 
tions in  Peking  were  present,  including  ladies 
and  children,  together  with  a large  number  of 
Chinese  officials  representing  the  city,  the  gov- 
ernment, and  the  Foreign  Office,  and  Prince  Chiin 
was  selected  to  pour  the  sacrificial  wine.  He  did 
it  with  all  the  dignity  of  a prince,  however  much 
he  may  or  may  not  have  enjoyed  it.  On  this 
occasion  he  used  one  of  the  ancient,  three-legged, 
sacrificial  wine-cups,  which  he  held  in  both  hands, 
while  Na  Tung,  President  of  the  Foreign  Office, 
poured  the  wine  into  the  cup  from  a tankard  of  a 
very  beautiful  and  unique  design.  It  is  the  only 
occasion  on  which  I have  seen  the  Prince  when 
he  did  not  seem  to  enjoy  what  he  was  doing.  I 
ought  to  add  just  here  that  I have  heard  the 
Chinese  refer  to  this  arch  as  the  monument 


i8o  Court  Life  in  China 

erected  by  the  Chinese  government  in  memory 
of  the  man  who  murdered  Baron  von  Kettler ! 

It  is  a well-known  fact  that  the  Boxers  des- 
troyed all  buildings  that  had  any  indication  of  a 
foreign  style  of  architecture,  whether  they  be- 
longed to  Chinese  or  foreigner,  Christian  or 
non-Christian,  legation,  merchant,  or  missionary. 
In  the  rebuilding  of  the  Peking  legations,  mis- 
sions, and  educational  institutions,  there  were 
naturally  a large  number  of  dedicatory  services. 
Many  of  the  Chinese  officials  attended  them,  but 
I shall  refer  to  only  one  or  two  at  which  I re- 
member meeting  Prince  Chiin.  I believe  it  was 
the  design  of  the  Empress  Dowager,  as  soon  as 
she  had  decided  upon  him  as  the  Regent,  to  give 
him  as  liberal  an  education  in  foreign  affairs  as 
the  facilities  in  Peking  would  allow. 

For  many  years  the  Methodist  mission  had 
tried  to  secure  funds  from  America  to  erect  a 
hospital  and  medical  school  in  connection  with 
the  mission  and  the  Peking  University.  This 
they  found  to  be  impossible,  and  finally  Dr.  N.  S. 
Hopkins  of  Massachusetts,  who  was  in  charge  of 
that  work,  consulted  with  his  brother  and  brother- 
in-law,  who  subscribed  the  funds  and  built  the 
institution.  This  act  of  benevolence  on  the  part 
of  Dr.  Hopkins  and  his  friends  appealed  to  the 
Chinese  sense  of  generosity,  and  when  the  build- 
ing was  completed,  a large  number  of  Chinese 
officials,  together  with  Prince  Chiin  and  Prince 


Prince  Chiin — The  Regent  l8l 

Pu  Lun,  were  present  at  its  dedication.  A num- 
ber of  addresses  were  made  by  such  men  as 
Major  Conger,  the  American  minister,  Bishop 
Moore,  Na  Tung,  Governor  Hu,  General  Chiang,  V 
and  others  of  the  older  representatives,  in  which 
they  expressed  their  appreciation  of  the  gener- 
osity which  prompted  a man  like  Dr.  Hopkins 
to  give  not  only  himself,  but  his  money,  for  the 
education  of  the  Chinese  youth  and  the  healing 
of  their  poor.  And  I might  add  that  Dr.  Hop- 
kins is  physician  to  many  of  the  princes  and  offi- 
cials in  Peking  at  the  present  time. 

During  this  reconstruction,  a number  of  the 
colleges  of  north  China  united  to  form  a union 
educational  institution.  One  part  of  this  scheme 
was  a union  medical  college,  situated  on  the  Ha- 
ta-men  great  street  not  a hundred  yards  north  of 
the  Von  Kettler  memorial  arch.  To  the  erection 
of  this  building  the  wealthy  officials  of  Peking 
subscribed  liberally,  and  the  Empress  Dowager 
sent  her  check  for  ii,ooo  taels,  equal  to  $g,ooo 
in  American  gold,  and  appointed  Prince  Chiin 
to  represent  the  Chinese  government  at  its  dedi- 
cation. At  this  meeting  Sir  Robert  Hart  made 
an  address  on  behalf  of  the  foreigners,  and  Na 
Tung  on  behalf  of  the  Chinese.  Although 
Prince  Chiin  took  no  public  part  in  the  exercises, 
he  privately  expressed  his  gratification  at  seeing 
the  completion  of  such  an  up-to-date  hospital 
and  medical  school  in  the  Chinese  capital. 


i82 


Court  Life  in  China 


I have  given  these  incidents  in  the  life  of  Prince 
Chiin  to  show  that  he  has  had  facilities  for  know- 
ing the  world  better  than  any  other  Chinese 
monarch  or  regent  that  has  ever  sat  upon  the 
dragon  throne,  and  that  he  has  grasped  the  oppor- 
tunities as  they  came  to  him.  He  has  been  in- 
timately associated  with  the  diplomatic  life  of  the 
various  legations,  which  is  perhaps  the  most  im- 
portant knowledge  he  has  acquired  in  dealing 
with  foreign  affairs,  as  these  ministers  are  the 
channels  through  which  he  must  come  in  contact 
with  foreign  governments.  He  has  been  present 
at  the  dedication  of  a number  of  missionary 
educational  institutions,  and  hence  from  personal 
contact  he  will  have  some  comprehension  of  the 
animus  and  work  of  missions  and  the  character 
of  the  men  engaged  in  that  work.  He  may  have 
as  a councillor,  if  he  so  desires,  the  Prince  Pu 
Lun,  who  has  had  a trip  around  the  world,  with 
the  best  possible  facilities  for  seeing  Japan, 
America,  Great  Britain,  Germany,  France,  and 
Italy,  and  who  has  been  in  even  more  intimate  con- 
tact with  the  diplomats  and  other  foreigners  than 
has  Prince  Chiin  himself.  My  wife  and  I have 
dined  with  him  and  the  Princess  both  at  the  Amer- 
ican legation  and  at  his  own  palace,  and  when  we 
left  China,  they  came  together  in  their  brougham  to 
bid  us  good-bye,  a thing  which  could  not  have 
happened  a few  years  ago,  and  an  indication  of  how 
wide  open  the  doors  in  China  are  now  standing. 


PRINCE  PU  LUN,  IMPERIAL  DELEGATE  TO 
THE  ST.  LOUIS  EXPOSITION 


Prince  Chiin — The  Regent  183 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  Prince  Chiin  begins 
his  regency  with  a brighter  outlook  for  his 
foreign  relations  than  any  other  ruler  China 
has  ever  had.  What  shall  we  say  of  his  Chinese 
relations?  Being  the  brother  of  Kuang  Hsii, 
and  himself  a progressive  young  man,  he  ought 
to  have  the  support  of  the  Reform  party,  and  be- 
ing the  choice  of  the  Empress  Dowager,  he  will 
have  the  support  of  the  great  progressive  offi- 
cials who  have  had  the  conduct  of  affairs  for  the 
last  quarter  of  a century  and  more,  and  especially 
for  the  past  ten  years,  since  the  Emperor  Kuang 
Hsii  was  deposed. 


XII 

The  Home  of  the  Court— The  For- 
bidden City 


The  innermost  enclosure  is  the  Forbidden  City  and  con- 
tains the  palace  and  its  surrounding  buildings.  The  wall 
is  less  solid  and  high  than  the  city  wall,  is  covered  with 
bright  yellow  tiles,  and  surrounded  by  a deep,  wide  moat. 
Two  gates  on  the  east  and  west  afford  access  to  the  in- 
terior of  this  habitation  of  the  Emperor,  as  well  as  the 
space  and  rooms  appertaining,  which  furnish  lodgment  to 
the  guard  defending  the  approach  to  the  dragon’s  throne. 

— S.  Wells  Williams  in  ^^The  Middle  Kingdom." 


XII 


THE  HOME  OF  THE  COURT— THE  FOR- 
BIDDEN CITY 

During  the  past  ten  years,  since  the  de- 
thronement of  the  late  Emperor  Kuang 
Hsii,  I have  often  been  asked  by  Euro- 
peans visiting  Peking  : 

“ What  would  happen  if  the  Emperor  should 
die?” 

“ They  would  put  a new  Emperor  on  the 
throne,”  was  my  invariable  answer.  They 
usually  followed  this  with  another  question  : 

“ What  would  happen  if  the  Empress  Dowager 
should  die  ? ” 

“In  that  case  the  Emperor,  of  course,  would 
again  resume  the  throne,”  I always  replied  with- 
out hesitation.  But  during  those  ten  years,  not 
one  of  my  friends  ever  thought  to  propound  the 
question,  nor  did  I have  the  wit  to  ask  myself : 

“ What  would  happen  if  the  Emperor  and  the 
Empress  Dowager  should  both  suddenly  snap 
the  frail  cord  of  life  at  or  about  the  same  time  ? ” 
Had  such  a question  come  to  me,  I confess  I 
should  not  have  known  how  to  answer  it.  It  is 
a problem  that  probably  never  presented  itself  to 
any  one  outside  of  that  mysterious  Forbidden 
City,  or  the  equally  mysterious  spectres  that 

187 


i88 


Court  Life  in  China 


come  and  go  through  its  half-open  gates  in  the 
darkness  of  the  early  morning.  There  are  three 
parties  to  whom  it  may  have  come  again  and 
again,  and  to  whom  we  may  perhaps  be  in- 
debted both  for  the  problem  and  the  solution. 

When  the  deaths  of  both  of  their  Imperial 
Majesties  were  announced  at  the  same  time,  the 
news  also  came  that  the  Japanese  suspected  that 
there  had  been  foul  play.  With  them,  however, 
it  was  only  suspicion ; none  of  them,  so  far  as  I 
know,  ever  undertook  to  analyze  the  matter  or 
unravel  the  mystery.  There  is  no  doubt  a rea- 
sonable explanation,  but  we  must  go  for  it  to 
the  Forbidden  City,  the  most  mysterious  royal 
dwelling  in  the  world,  where  white  men  have 
never  gone  except  by  invitation  from  the  throne, 
save  on  one  occasion. 

In  1901,  while  the  court  was  in  hiding  at 
Hsianfu,  the  city  to  which  they  fled  when  the 
allies  entered  Peking,  the  western  half  of  the 
Forbidden  City  was  thrown  open  to  the  public, 
the  only  condition  being  that  said  public  have  a 
certificate  which  would  serve  as  a pass  to  the 
American  boys  in  blue  who  guarded  the  Wu 
men,  or  front  gate.  I was  fortunate  enough  to 
have  that  pass. 

My  first  move  was  to  get  a Chinese  photog- 
rapher— the  best  I could  find  in  the  city — to  go 
with  me  and  take  pictures  of  everything  I wanted 
as  well  as  anything  else  that  suited  his  fancy 


The  Home  of  the  Court  189 

The  city  of  Peking  is  regularly  laid  out.  To- 
wards the  south  is  the  Chinese  city,  fifteen  miles 
in  circumference.  To  the  north  is  a square,  four 
miles  on  each  side,  and  containing  sixteen  square 
miles.  In  the  centre  of  this  square,  enclosed  by 
a beautifully  crenelated  wall  thirty  feet  thick  at 
the  bottom,  twenty  feet  thick  at  the  top  and 
twenty-five  feet  high,  surrounded  by  a moat  one 
hundred  feet  wide,  is  the  Forbidden  City,  occupy- 
ing less  than  one-half  a square  mile.  In  this 
city  there  dwells  but  one  male  human  being,  the 
Emperor,  who  is  called  the  “ solitary  man.” 

There  is  a gate  in  the  centre  of  each  of  the  four 
sides,  that  on  the  south,  the  Wu  men,  being  the 
front  gate,  through  which  the  Emperor  alone  is 
allowed  to  pass.  The  back  gate,  guarded  by 
the  Japanese  during  the  occupation,  is  for  the 
Empress  Dowager,  the  Empress  and  the  women 
of  the  court,  while  the  side  gates  are  for  the 
officials,  merchants  or  others  who  may  have 
business  in  the  palace. 

Through  the  centre  of  this  city,  from  south  to 
north,  is  a passageway  about  three  hundred  feet 
wide,  across  which,  at  intervals  of  two  hundred 
yards,  they  have  erected  large  buildings,  such  as 
the  imperial  examination  hall,  the  hall  in  which 
the  Emperor  receives  his  bride,  the  imperial 
library,  the  imperial  kitchen,  and  others  of  a like 
nature,  all  covered  with  yellow  titles,  and  known 
to  tourists,  who  see  them  from  the  Tartar  City 


Court  Life  in  China 


190 

wall,  as  the  palace  buildings.  These,  however, 
are  not  the  buildings  in  which  the  royal  family 
live.  They  are  the  places  where  for  the  past 
five  hundred  years  all  those  great  diplomatic 
measures — and  dark  deeds — of  the  Chinese  em- 
perors and  their  great  officials  have  been  trans- 
acted between  midnight  and  daylight. 

If  you  will  go  with  me  at  midnight  to  the 
great  gate  which  leads  from  the  Tartar  to  the 
Chinese  city — the  Chien  men — you  will  hear  the 
wailing  creak  of  its  hinges  as  it  swings  open, 
and  in  a few  moments  the  air  will  be  filled  with 
the  rumbling  of  carts  and  the  clatter  of  the  feet 
of  the  mules  on  the  stone  pavement,  as  they 
take  the  officials  into  the  audiences  with  their 
ruler.  If  you  will  remain  with  me  there  till  a 
little  before  daylight  you  will  see  them,  like 
silent  spectres,  sitting  tailor-fashion  on  the  bot- 
tom of  their  springless  carts,  returning  to  their 
homes,  but  you  will  ask  in  vain  for  any  informa- 
tion as  to  the  business  they  have  transacted. 
“ They  love  darkness  rather  than  light,”  not  per- 
haps “ because  their  deeds  are  evil,”  but  because 
it  has  been  the  custom  of  the  country  from  time 
immemorial. 

Immediately  to  the  north  of  this  row  of  im- 
perial palace  buildings,  and  just  outside  the 
north  gate,  there  is  an  artificial  mound  called 
Coal  Hill,  made  of  the  dirt  which  was  removed 
to  make  the  Lotus  Lakes.  It  is  said  that  in  this 


The  Home  of  the  Court  191 

hill  there  is  buried  coal  enough  to  last  the  city 
in  time  of  siege.  This,  however,  was  not  the 
primary  design  of  the  hill.  It  has  a more  mys- 
terious meaning.  There  have  always  been 
spirits  in  the  earth,  in  the  air,  in  every  tree  and 
well  and  stream.  And  in  China  it  has  ever 
been  found  necessary  to  locate  a house,  a city  or 
even  a cemetery  in  such  surroundings  as  to  pro- 
tect them  from  the  entrance  of  evil  spirits. 
“ Coal  Hill,”  therefore,  was  placed  to  the  north 
of  these  imperial  palace  buildings  to  protect 
them  from  the  evil  spirits  of  the  cold,  bleak 
north. 

Just  inside  of  that  north  gate  there  is  a 
beautiful  garden,  with  rockeries  and  arbours, 
flowering  plants  and  limpid  artificial  streams 
gurgling  over  equally  artificial  pebbles,  though 
withal  making  a beautiful  sight  and  a cool  shade 
in  the  hot  summer  days.  In  the  east  side  of  this 
garden  there  is  a small  imperial  shrine  having 
four  doors  at  the  four  points  of  the  compass.  In. 
front  of  each  of  these  doors  there  is  a large 
cypress-tree,  some  of  them  five  hundred  years 
old,  which  were  split  up  from  the  root  some 
seven  or  eight  feet,  and  planted  with  the  two 
halves  three  feet  apart,  making  a living  arch 
through  which  the  worshipper  must  pass  as  he 
enters  the  temple.  To  the  north  of  the  garden 
and  east  of  the  back  gate  there  is  a most  beauti- 
ful Buddhist  temple,  in  which  only  the  members 


192 


Court  Life  in  China 


of  the  imperial  family  are  allowed  to  worship,  in 
front  of  which  there  is  also  a living  arch  like 
those  described  above,  as  may  also  be  found  be- 
fore the  imperial  temples  in  the  Summer  Palace. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  unique  and  mysterious 
features  of  temple  worship  I have  found  any- 
where in  China,  and  no  amount  of  questioning 
ever  brought  me  any  explanation  of  its  mean- 
ing. 

Now  if  you  will  go  with  me  to  the  top  of  Coal 
Hill  I will  point  out  to  you  the  buildings  in 
which  their  Majesties  have  lived.  There  are  six 
parallel  rows  of  buildings,  facing  the  south,  each 
behind  the  other,  in  the  northwest  quarter  of  this 
Forbidden  City,  protected  from  the  evil  spirits 
of  the  north  by  the  dagoba  on  Prospect  Hill. 

Perhaps  you  would  like  to  go  with  me  into 
these  homes  of  their  Majesties — or,  as  a woman’s 
home  is  always  more  interesting  than  the  den  of 
a man,  let  me  take  you  through  the  private 
apartments  of  the  greatest  woman  of  her  race — 
the  late  Empress  Dowager.  She  occupied  three 
of  these  rows  of  buildings.  The  first  was  her 
drawing-room  and  library,  the  second  her  din- 
ing-room and  sleeping  apartments,  and  the  third 
her  kitchen. 

One  was  strangely  impressed  by  what  he  saw 
here.  There  was  no  gorgeous  display  of  Oriental 
colouring,  but  there  was  beaut}^  of  a peculiarly 
penetrating  quality — and  yet  a homelike  beauty. 


r 


> 

Y 


r - 
► 


;/ 

f 


EMPRESS  DOWAGER’S  DINING-ROOM 


The  Home  of  the  Court  193 

No  description  that  can  be  written  of  it  will  ever 
do  it  justice.  Not  until  one  can  see  and  ap- 
preciate the  paintings  of  the  old  Chinese 
masters  of  five  hundred  years  ago  hanging  upon 
the  walls,  the  beautiful  pieces  of  the  best  porce- 
lain of  the  time  of  Kang  Hsi  and  Chien  Lung, 
made  especially  for  the  palace,  arranged  in  their 
natural  surroundings,  on  exquisitely  carved 
Chinese  tables  and  brackets,  the  gorgeously  em- 
broided  silk  portieres  over  the  doorways,  and 
the  matchless  tapestries  which  only  the  Chinese 
could  weave  for  their  greatest  rulers,  can  we  ap- 
preciate the  beauty,  the  richness,  and  the  refined 
elegance  of  the  private  apartments  of  the  great 
Dowager. 

I went  into  her  sleeping  apartments.  Others 
also  entered  there,  sat  upon  her  couch,  and  had 
their  friends  photograph  them.  I could  not 
allow  myself  to  do  so.  I stood  silent,  with  head 
uncovered  as  I gazed  with  wonder  and  admira- 
tion at  the  bed,  with  its  magnificently  em- 
broidered curtains  hanging  from  the  ceiling  to 
the  floor,  its  yellow-satin  mattress  ten  feet  in 
length  and  its  great  round,  hard  pillow,  with  the 
delicate  silk  spreads  turned  back  as  though  it 
were  prepared  for  Her  Majesty’s  return.  On  the 
opposite  side  of  the  room  there  was  a brick 
kang  bed,  such  as  we  find  in  the  homes  of  all 
the  Chinese  of  the  north,  where  her  maids 
slept,  or  sat  like  silent  ghosts  while  the  only 


194 


Court  Life  in  China 


woman  that  ever  ruled  over  one-third  of  the 
human  race  took  her  rest.  The  furnishings 
were  rich  but  simple.  No  plants,  no  intricate 
carvings  to  catch  the  dust,  nothing  but  the  two 
beds  and  a small  table,  with  a few  simple  and 
soothing  wall  decorations,  and  the  monotonous 
tick-tock  of  a great  clock  to  lull  her  to  sleep. 

If  Shakespeare  could  say  with  an  English 
monarch  in  his  mind,  “ Uneasy  lies  the  head 
that  wears  a crown,”  we  might  repeat  it  with 
added  emphasis  of  Tze  Hsi,  For  forty  years  she 
had  to  rise  at  midnight,  winter  as  well  as  summer, 
and  go  into  the  dark,  dreary,  cold  halls  of  the 
palace,  lighted  much  of  the  time  with  nothing 
but  tallow  dips,  and  heated  only  with  brass 
braziers  filled  with  charcoal,  and  there  sit  behind 
a screen  where  she  could  see  no  one,  and  no  one 
could  see  her,  and  listen  to  the  reports  of  those 
who  came  to  these  dark  audiences.  Then  she 
must,  in  conjunction  with  them,  compose  edicts 
which  were  sent  out  to  the  Peking  Gazette,  the 
oldest  and  poorest  newspaper  in  the  world,  to  be 
carved  on  blocks,  and  printed,  and  then  sent  by 
courier  to  every  official  in  the  empire.  Ruling 
over  a conquered  race,  she  must  always  be 
watching  out  for  signs  of  discontent  and  re- 
bellion ; being  herself  the  daughter  of  a poor 
man,  and  beginning  as  only  the  concubine  of  an 
emperor,  and  he  but  a weak  character,  she  must 
be  alert  for  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  the 


The  Home  of  the  Court  195 

princes  who  might  have  some  title  to  the  throne. 
She  must  watch  the  governors  in  the  distant 
provinces  and  the  viceroys  who  are  in  charge  of 
great  armies,  that  they  do  not  direct  them  against 
instead  of  in  defense  of  the  throne. 

When  her  husband  died  while  a fugitive  two 
hundred  miles  from  her  palace,  she  must  see  to 
it  that  her  three-year-old  child  was  placed  upon 
the  throne  with  her  own  hand  at  the  helm,  and 
when  he  died  she  must  also  be  ready  with  a suc- 
cessor, who  would  give  her  another  lease  of 
office.  Even  when  he  became  of  age  and  took 
the  throne  she  must  watch  over  him  like  a guard- 
ian, to  prevent  his  bringing  down  upon  their 
own  heads  the  structure  which  she  had  builded. 
Nay,  more,  when  it  became  necessary  for  her  to 
dethrone  him  and  rule  in  his  name,  banishing 
his  friends  and  pacifying  his  enemies,  keeping 
him  a prisoner  in  his  palace,  it  required  a cour- 
age that  was  titanic  to  do  so.  But  she  never 
flinched,  though  we  may  suppose  that  many  of 
her  poorest  subjects,  who  could  sleep  from  dark 
till  daylight  with  nothing  but  a brick  for  a pillow, 
might  have  rested  more  peacefully  than  she. 

She  had  a myriad  of  other  duties  to  perform. 
She  was  the  mother-in-law  of  that  imperial 
household,  with  the  Emperor,  the  Empress,  sixty 
concubines,  two  thousand  eunuchs,  and  any 
number  of  court  ladies  and  maid-servants. 
Their  expenses  were  enormous  and  she  must 


Court  Life  in  China 


196 

keep  her  eye  on  every  detail.  The  food  they 
ate  was  similar  to  that  used  by  all  the  Chinese 
people.  I happen  to  know  this,  because  one  of 
her  eunuchs  who  visited  me  frequently  to  ask 
my  assistance  in  a matter  which  he  had  under- 
taken for  the  Emperor,  often  brought  me  various 
kinds  of  meat,  or  other  delicacies  of  a like  nature, 
from  the  imperial  kitchens. 

I want  you  to  visit  thi'ee  of  the  imperial  temples 
in  these  beautiful  palace  grounds.  The  first  is  a 
tall,  three-story  building  at  the  head  of  that  mag- 
nificent Lotus  Lake.  In  it  there  stands  a Buddhist 
deity  with  one  thousand  heads  and  one  thousand 
arm.s  and  hands.  Standing  upon  the  ground 
floor  its  head  reaches  almost  to  the  roof.  Its 
body,  face  and  arms  are  as  white  as  snow. 
There  is  nothing  else  in  the  building — nothing 
but  this  mild-faced  Buddhist  divinity  for  that 
brilliant,  black-eyed  ruler  of  China’s  millions  to 
worship. 

Standing  near  by  is  another  building  of  far 
greater  beauty.  It  is  faced  all  over  with  en- 
caustic tiles,  each  made  at  the  kiln  a thousand 
miles  away,  for  the  particular  place  it  was  to 
occupy.  Each  one  fits  without  a flaw,  a sug- 
gestion to  American  architects  on  Chinese 
architecture. 

The  second  of  these  temples  stands  to  the  west 
of  the  Coal  Hill,  immediately  to  the  north  of  the 
homes  of  their  Majesties.  One  day  while  pass- 


The  Home  of  the  Court  197 

ing  through  the  forbidden  grounds  I came  upon 
this  temple  from  the  rear.  In  the  dome  of  one 
of  the  buildings  is  a circular  space  some  ten  feet 
in  diameter,  carved  and  gilded  in  the  form  of  two 
magnificent  dragons  after  the  fabled  pearl.  It 
is  to  this  place  the  Emperor  goes  in  time  of 
drought  to  confess  his  sins,  for  he  confesses  to 
the  gods  that  the  drought  is  all  his  doing,  and 
to  pray  for  forgiveness,  and  for  rain  to  enrich 
the  thirsty  land.  The  towers  on  the  corners  of 
the  wall  of  the  Forbidden  City  are  the  same  style 
of  architecture  as  the  small  pavilion  in  the  front 
court  of  this  temple. 

Now  as  the  buds  of  spring  are  bursting  and 
the  eaves  on  the  mulberry-trees  are  beginning 
to  develop,  will  you  go  with  the  Empress 
Dowager  or  the  Empress  into  a temple  on 
Prospect  Hill,  between  the  Coal  Hill  and  the 
Lotus  Lake,  where  she  offers  sacrifices  to  the  god 
of  the  silkworm  and  prays  for  a prosperous  year 
on  the  work  of  that  little  insect  ? Above  it  stands 
one  of  the  most  hideous  bronze  deities  I have 
ever  seen — male  and  naked — in  a beautiful  little 
shrine,  every  tile  of  which  is  made  in  the  form  of 
a Buddha’s  head.  During  the  occupation  tourists 
were  allowed  to  visit  this  place  freely,  and  their 
desire  for  curios  overcoming  their  discretion,  they 
knocked  the  heads  off  these  tiles  until,  when  the 
place  was  closed,  there  was  not  a single  tile  which 
had  not  been  defaced. 


198 


Court  Life  in  China 


One  other  building  in  the  Forbidden  City  is 
worthy  of  our  attention.  It  is  the  art  gallery. 
It  is  not  generally  known  that  China  is  the 
parent  of  all  Oriental  art.  We  know  something 
of  the  art  of  Japan  but  little  about  that  of  China. 
And  yet  the  best  Japanese  artists  have  never 
hoped  for  anything  better  than  to  equal  their 
Chinese  teacher.  In  this  art  gallery  there  are 
stored  away  the  finest  specimens  of  the  old 
masters  for  ten  centuries  or  more,  together  with 
portraits  of  all  the  noted  emperors.  Among 
these  portraits  we  may  now  find  two  of  the  Em- 
press Dowager,  one  painted  by  Miss  Carl,  and 
another  by  Mr.  Vos,  a well-known  American 
portrait  painter. 


XIII 


The  Ladies  of  the  Court 


I love  to  talk  with  my  people  of  their  Majesties,  the 
princesses,  and  the  Chinese  ladies,  as  I have  seen  and 
known  them.  Your  friendship  I will  always  remember. 
Her  Majesty,  your  imperial  sister,  found  a warm  place  in 
my  heart  and  is  treasured  there.  Please  extend  to  the 
Imperial  Princess  my  cordial  greetings  and  to  the  other 
princesses  my  best  of  good  wishes. 

— Mrs.  E.  H.  Conger,  in  a letter  to  the  Princess  Shun. 


XIII 


THE  LADIES  OF  THE  COURT 

The  leading  figure  of  the  court  is  Yeho- 
nala,  wife  of  the  late  Emperor  Kuang 
Hsii.  She  has  always  been  called  the 
Young  Empress,  but  is  now  the  Empress  Dowa- 
ger. After  the  great  Dowager  was  made  the 
concubine  of  Hsien  Feng,  she  succeeded  in  ar- 
ranging a marriage,  as  we  have  seen,  between 
her  younger  sister  and  the  younger  brother  of 
her  husband,  the  Seventh  Prince,  as  he  was  called, 
father  of  Kuang  Hsii  and  the  present  regent. 

The  world  knows  how,  in  order  to  keep  the 
succession  in  her  own  family,  she  took  the  son  of 
this  younger  sister,  when  her  own  son  the  Em- 
peror Tung  Chih  died,  and  made  him  the  Em- 
peror Kuang  Hsii  when  he  was  but  little  more 
than  three  years  of  age.  When  the  time  came 
for  him  to  wed,  she  arranged  that  he  should 
marry  his  cousin,  Yehonala,  the  daughter  of  her 
favourite  brother,  Duke  Kuei.  This  Kuang  Hsii 
was  not  inclined  to  do,  as  his  affections  seem  to 
have  been  centred  on  another.  The  great  Dow- 
ager, however,  insisted  upon  it,  and  he  finally 
made  her  Empress,  and  to  satisfy, — or  shall  we 
say  appease  him  ? — she  allowed  him  to  take 


201 


202 


Court  Life  in  China 


as  his  first  concubine  the  lady  he  wanted  as  his 
wife ; and  it  was  currently  reported  in  court  cir- 
cles that  when  Yehonala  came  into  his  presence 
he  not  infrequently  kicked  off  his  shoe  at  her,  a 
bit  of  conduct  that  is  quite  in  keeping  with  the 
temper  usually  attributed  to  Kuang  Hsii  during 
those  early  years.  This  may  perhaps  explain 
why  she  stood  by  the  great  Dowager  through 
all  the  troublous  times  of  1898  and  1900,  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  her  imperial  aunt  had  taken  her 
husband’s  throne. 

Mrs.  Headland  tells  me  that  “Yehonala  is  not 
at  all  beautiful,  though  she  has  a sad,  gentle  face. 
She  is  rather  stooped,  extremely  thin,  her  face 
long  and  sallow,  and  her  teeth  very  much  de- 
cayed. Gentle  in  disposition,  she  is  without  self- 
assertion,  and  if  at  any  of  the  audiences  we  were 
to  greet  her  she  would  return  the  greeting,  but 
would  never  venture  a remark.  At  the  audiences 
given  to  the  ladies  she  was  always  present,  but 
never  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  either  the 
Empress  Dowager  or  the  Emperor.  She  would 
sometimes  come  inside  the  great  hall  where  they 
were,  but  she  always  stood  in  some  inconspicuous 
place  in  the  rear,  with  her  waiting  women  about 
her,  and  as  soon  as  she  could  do  so  without  at- 
tracting attention,  she  would  withdraw  into  the 
court  or  to  some  other  room.  In  the  summer- 
time we  sometimes  saw  her  with  her  servants 
wandering  aimlessly  about  the  court.  She  had 


The  Ladies  of  the  Court  203 

the  appearance  of  a gentle,  quiet,  kindly  person 
who  was  always  afraid  of  intruding  and  had  no 
place  or  part  in  anything.  And  now  she  is  the 
Empress  Dowager  1 It  seems  a travesty  on  the 
English  language  to  call  this  kindly,  gentle  soul 
by  the  same  title  that  we  have  been  accustomed 
to  use  in  speaking  of  the  woman  who  has  just 
passed  away.” 

My  wife  tells  me  that, — “ A number  of  years 
ago  I was  called  to  see  Mrs.  Chang  Hsii  who  was 
suffering  from  a nervous  breakdown  due  to  worry 
and  sleeplessness.  On  inquiry  I discovered  that 
her  two  daughters  had  been  taken  into  the  pal- 
ace as  concubines  of  the  Emperor  Kuang  Hsu. 
Her  friends  feared  a mental  breakdown,  and 
begged  me  to  do  all  I could  for  her.  She  took 
me  by  the  hand,  pulled  me  down  on  the  brick 
bed  beside  her,  and  told  me  in  a pathetic  way 
how  both  of  her  daughters  had  been  taken  from 
her  in  a single  day. 

“ ‘ But  they  have  been  taken  into  the  palace,’  I 
urged,  to  try  to  comfort  her,  ‘ and  I have  heard 
that  the  Emperor  is  very  fond  of  your  eldest 
daughter,  and  wanted  to  make  her  his  empress.’ 

“ ‘ Quite  right,’  she  replied,  ‘ but  what  consola- 
tion is  there  in  that  ? They  are  only  concubines, 
and  once  in  the  palace  they  are  dead  to  me.  No 
matter  what  they  suffer,  I can  never  see  them  or 
offer  them  a word  of  comfort.  I am  afraid  of  the 
court  intrigues,  and  they  are  only  children  and 


204 


Court  Life  in  China 


cannot  understand  the  duplicity  of  court  life — I 
fear  for  them,  I fear  for  them,’  and  she  swayed 
back  and  forth  on  her  brick  bed, 

“ Time,  however,  the  great  healer  with  a little 
medicine  and  sympathy  to  quiet  her  nerves^ 
brought  about  a speedy  recovery,  though  in  the 
end  her  fears  proved  all  too  true.” 

In  1897  the  brother  of  this  first  concubine  met 
Kang  Yii-wei  in  the  south,  and  became  one  of 
his  disciples.  Upon  his  return  to  Peking,  know- 
ing of  the  Emperor’s  desire  for  reform,  and  his 
affection  for  his  sister,  he  found  means  of  com- 
municating with  her  about  the  young  reformer. 
At  the  time  of  the  coup  d' etat,  and  the  impris- 
onment of  the  Emperor,  this  first  concubine  was 
degraded  and  imprisoned  on  the  ground  of  hav- 
ing been  the  means  of  introducing  Kang  Yu-wei 
to  the  notice  of  the  Emperor,  and  thus  interfering 
in  state  affairs.  She  continued  in  solitary  con- 
finement from  that  time  until  the  flight  of  the 
court  in  1900  when  in  their  haste  to  get  away 
from  the  allies  she  was  overlooked  and  left  in  the 
palace.  When  she  discovered  that  she  was  alone 
with  the  eunuchs,  fearing  that  she  might  become 
a victim  to  the  foreign  soldiers,  she  took  her  life 
by  jumping  into  a well.  On  the  return  of  the 
court  in  1902,  the  Empress  Dowager  bestowed 
upon  her  posthumous  honours,  in  recognition  of 
her  conduct  in  thus  taking  her  life  and  protecting 
her  virtue. 


The  Ladies  of  the  Court 


205 


Some  conception  of  the  haste  and  disorder  with 
which  the  court  left  the  capital  on  that  memo- 
rable August  morning  may  be  gleaned  from  the 
fact  that  her  sister  was  also  overlooked  and  with 
a eunuch  fled  on  foot  in  the  wake  of  the  depart- 
ing court.  She  was  overtaken  by  Prince  Chuang 
who  was  returning  in  his  chair  from  the  palace, 
where,  with  Prince  Ching,  he  had  been  to  inform 
their  Majesties  that  the  allies  were  in  possession 
of  the  city.  The  eunuch,  recognizing  him, 
called  his  attention  to  the  fleeing  concubine,  who, 
when  he  had  alighted  and  greeted  her,  begged 
him  to  find  her  a cart  that  she  might  follow  the 
court.  Presently  a dilapidated  vehicle  came  by 
in  which  sat  an  old  man.  The  Prince  ordered  him 
to  give  the  cart  to  the  concubine  and  sent  her  to 
his  palace  where  a proper  conveyance  was  secured, 
and  she  overtook  the  court  at  the  Nankow  pass. 

At  the  audiences,  this  concubine  was  always 
in  company  with  the  Empress  Yehonala,  stand- 
ing at  her  left.  She,  however,  lacked  both  the 
beauty  and  intelligence  of  her  sister. 

The  ladies  of  the  court,  who  were  constantly 
associated  with  the  Empress  Dowager  as  her 
ladies  in  waiting,  are  first,  the  Imperial  Princess, 
the  daughter  of  the  late  Prince  Kung,  the  sixth 
brother  of  the  Empress  Dowager’s  husband.  Out 
of  friendship  for  her  father,  the  Empress  Dow- 
agers adopted  her  as  their  daughter,  giving  her 
all  the  rights,  privileges  and  titles  of  the  daughter 


2o6 


Court  Life  in  China 


of  an  empress.  She  is  the  only  one  in  the  em- 
pire who  is  entitled  to  ride  in  a yellow  chair  such 
as  is  used  by  the  Empress  Dowager,  the  Em- 
peror or  Empress.  The  highest  of  the  princes — 
even  Prince  Ching  himself — has  to  descend  from 
his  chair  if  he  meet  her.  Yet  when  this  lady  is 
in  the  palace,  no  matter  how  she  may  be  suffer- 
ing, she  dare  not  sit  down  in  the  presence  of  Her 
Majesty. 

“ One  day  when  we  were  in  the  palace,”  says 
Mrs.  Headland,  “ the  Imperial  Princess  was  suffer- 
ing from  such  a severe  attack  of  lumbago,  that 
she  could  scarcely  stand.  I suggested  to  her  that 
she  retire  to  the  rear  of  the  room,  behind  some  of 
the  pillars  and  rest  a while. 

“ ‘ I dare  not  do  that,’  she  replied  ; ‘ we  have  no 
such  a custom  in  China.’  ” 

She  is  austere  in  manner,  plain  in  appearance, 
dignified  in  bearing,  about  sixty-five  years  of  age, 
and  is  noted  for  her  accomplishment  in  making 
the  most  graceful  courtesy  of  any  lady  in  the  court. 

During  the  Boxer  troubles  and  the  occupation, 
her  palace  was  plundered  and  very  much  injured, 
and  she  escaped  in  her  stocking  feet  through  a 
side  door.  At  the  first  luncheon  given  at  her 
palace  thereafter,  she  apologized  for  its  desolate 
appearance,  saying  that  it  had  been  looted  by  the 
Boxers,  though  we  knew  it  had  been  looted  by 
the  allies.  At  later  luncheons,  however,  she  had 
procured  such  ornaments  as  restored  in  some 


The  Ladies  of  the  Court 


207 


measure  its  original  beauty  and  grandeur,  though 
none  of  these  dismantled  palaces  will  regain  their 
former  splendour  for  many  years  to  come. 

Next  to  the  Imperial  Princess  are  the  two  sis- 
ters of  Yehonala,  one  of  whom  is  married  to  Duke 
Tse,  who  was  head  of  the  commission  that  made 
the  tour  of  the  world  to  inquire  as  to  the  best 
form  of  government  to  be  adopted  by  China  in 
her  efforts  at  renovation  and  reform.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  suppose  that  it  was  because  the 
Duke  was  married  to  the  Empress  Dowager’s 
niece  that  he  was  made  the  head  of  this  commis- 
sion, which  after  its  return  advised  the  adoption 
of  a constitution.  The  other  sister  is  the  wife  of 
Prince  Shun,  and  is  the  opposite  of  the  Empress. 
She  is  stout,  but  beautiful.  She  has  always  been 
the  favourite  niece  of  the  Empress  Dowager,  ap- 
peared at  all  the  functions,  and  though  very 
sedate  when  foreign  ladies  were  present  at  an 
audience,  I was  told  by  the  Chinese  that  when 
the  imperial  family  were  alone  together  she  was 
the  life  of  the  company.  She  would  even  stand 
behind  the  Empress  Dowager’s  chair  “ making 
such  grimaces,”  the  Chinese  expressed  it,  as  to 
make  it  almost  impossible  for  the  others  to  retain 
their  equilibrium.  As  she  was  the  youngest  of 
the  three  sisters,  and  because  of  her  happy  dispo- 
sition, the  Chinese  nicknamed  her  hsiao  ktmiang^ 
“ the  little  girl.”  These  three  sisters  are  all  child- 
less. 


2o8 


Court  Life  in  China 


The  Princess  Shun  and  Princess  Tsai  Chen, 
only  daughter-in-law  of  Prince  Ching,  herself  the 
daughter  of  a viceroy,  were  very  congenial,  and 
the  most  intimate  friends  of  all  those  in  court 
circles.  The  latter  is  beautiful,  brilliant,  quick, 
tactful,  and  graceful.  Of  all  the  ladies  of  the 
court  she  is  the  most  witty  and,  with  Princess 
Shun,  the  most  interesting.  These  two  more 
than  any  others  made  the  court  ladies  easy  to  en- 
tertain at  all  public  functions,  for  they  were  full 
of  enthusiasm  and  tried  to  help  things  along. 
They  seemed  to  feel  that  they  were  personally 
responsible  for  the  success  of  the  audience  or  the 
luncheon  as  a social  undertaking. 

Lady  Yiian  is  one  of  two  of  these  court  ladies 
who  dwelt  with  the  Empress  Dowager  in  the 
palace,  the  other  being  Prince  Ching’s  fourth 
daughter.  She  is  a niece  by  marriage  of  the 
Empress  Dowager,  though  she  really  was  never 
married.  The  nephew  of  the  Empress  Dowager, 
to  whom  she  was  engaged,  though  she  had 
never  seen  him,  died  before  they  were  married. 
After  his  death,  but  before  his  funeral,  she 
dressed  herself  as  a widow,  and  in  a chair 
covered  with  white  sackcloth  went  to  his 
home,  where  she  performed  the  ceremonies 
-j  proper  for  a widow,  which  entitled  her  to  take 
; her  position  as  his  wife.  Such  an  act  is  regarded 
as  very  meritorious  in  the  eyes  of  the  Chinese, 
and  no  women  are  more  highly  honoured  than 


A MANCHU  PRINCESS 


The  Ladies  of  the  Court  209 

those  who  have  given  themselves  in  this  way  to 
a life  of  chastity. 

The  second  of  these  ladies  who  remained  in 
the  palace  with  the  Empress  Dowager  is  the 
fourth  daughter  of  Prince  Ching.  Married  to 
the  son  of  a viceroy,  their  wedded  life  lasted  only 
a few  months.  She  was  taken  into  the  palace, 
and  being  a widow,  she  neither  wears  bright 
colours  nor  uses  cosmetics.  She  is  a fine  scholar, 
very  devout,  and  spends  much  of  her  time  in 
studying  the  Buddhist  classics.  She  is  considered 
the  most  beautiful  of  the  court  ladies. 

The  Empress  Dowager  took  charge  of  most 
of  the  domestic  matters  of  all  her  relatives,  taking 
into  the  palace  and  associating  with  her  as  court 
ladies  some  who  were  widowed  in  their  youth, 
and  keeping  constantly  with  her  only  those  whom 
she  has  elevated  to  positions  of  rank,  or  members 
of  her  own  family.  Nor  was  she  too  busy  with 
state  affairs  to  stop  and  settle  domestic  quarrels.  * 

Among  the  court  ladies  there  was  one  who 
was  married  to  a prince  of  the  second  order. 
Her  husband  is  still  living,  but  as  they  were  not 
congenial  in  their  wedded  life,  the  Empress 
Dowager  made  herself  a kind  of  foster-mother  to 
the  Princess  and  banished  her  husband  to  Mon- 
golia, an  incident  which  reveals  to  us  another 
phase  of  the  great  Dowager’s  character — that  of 
dealing  with  fractious  husbands. 


j 


i 


V 


f- 


PRINCE  SU  AND  HIS  CAMEL  CART 


XIV 

The  Princesses — Their  Schools 


The  position  accorded  to  woman  in  Chinese  society  is 
strictly  a domestic  one,  and,  as  is  the  case  in  other  Eastern 
countries,  she  is  denied  the  liberty  which  threatens  to  at- 
tain such  amazing  proportions  in  the  West.  There  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  woman  in  China  is  treated  worse 
than  elsewhere ; but  people  can  of  course  paint  her  con- 
dition just  as  fancy  seizes  them.  They  are  rarely  ad- 
mitted into  the  domestic  surroundings  of  Chinese  homes, 
therefore  there  is  nothing  to  curb  the  imagination.  The 
truth  is  that  just  as  much  may  be  said  on  one  side  as  on 
the  other.  Domestic  happiness  is  in  China — as  every- 
where else  the  world  over — a lottery.  The  parents  in- 
variably select  partners  in  marriage  for  their  sons  and 
daughters,  and  sometimes  make  as  great  blunders  as  the 
young  people  would  if  left  to  themselves. 

— Harold  E.  Gorst  in  China." 


XIV 


THE  PRINCESSES— THEIR  SCHOOLS  ^ 

ONE  day  while  making  a professional  call 
on  the  Princess  Su  our  conversation 
turned  to  female  education  in  China.  I 
was  deeply  interested  in  the  subject,  and  was 
aware  that  the  Prince  had  established  a school 
for  the  education  of  his  daughters  and  the  women 
of  his  palace,  and  was  naturally  pleased  when 
the  Princess  asked ; 

“ Would  you  care  to  visit  our  school  when  it 
is  in  session?” 

“ Nothing  would  please  me  more,”  I answered. 
“ When  may  I do  so  ? ” 

” Could  you  come  to-morrow  morning  ? ” she 
inquired. 

“With  pleasure ; at  what  time  ? ” 

“ I will  send  my  cart  for  you.” 

The  following  morning  the  Prince’s  cart  ap- 
peared. It  was  lined  with  fur,  upholstered  in 
satin,  furnished  with  cushions,  and  encircled  by 
a red  band  which  indicated  the  rank  of  its  owner. 
A venerable  eunuch,  the  head  of  the  palace  serv- 
ants, preceded  it  as  an  outrider,  and  assisted  me 
in  mounting  and  dismounting,  while  the  driver 

* Taken  from  Mrs.  Headland’s  note-book. 

213 


214  Court  Life  in  China 

in  red-tasselled  hat  walked  decorously  by  the 
side. 

The  school  occupies  a large  court  in  the  palace 
grounds.  Another  evidence  of  Western  influ- 
ence in  the  same  court  is  a large  two-story  house 
of  foreign  architecture  where  the  Prince  receives 
his  guests.  Prince  Su  was  the  first  to  have  this 
foreign  reception  hall,  but  he  has  been  followed 
in  this  respect  by  other  officials  and  princes  as 
well  as  by  the  Empress  Dowager. 

“ This  is  not  unlike  our  foreign  compounds,” 
I remarked  to  the  Princess  as  we  entered  the 
court. 

“Yes,”  she  replied,  “the  Prince  does  not  care 
to  have  the  court  paved,  but  prefers  to  have  it 
sodded  and  filled  with  flowers  and  shrubs.” 

The  school  building  was  evidently  designed 
for  that  purpose,  being  light  and  airy  with  the 
whole  southern  exposure  made  into  windows, 
and  covered  with  a thin  white  paper  which  gives 
a soft,  restful  light  and  shuts  out  the  glare  of  the 
sun.  The  floor  is  covered  with  a heavy  rope 
matting  while  the  walls  are  hung  with  botanical, 
zoological  and  other  charts.  Besides  the  usual 
furniture  for  a well-equipped  schoolroom,  it  was 
heated  with  a foreign  stove,  had  glass  cases  for 
their  embroidery  and  drawing  materials,  and  a 
good  American  organ  to  direct  them  in  singing, 
dancing  and  calisthenics. 

I arrived  at  recess.  The  Princess  took  me  into 


The  Princesses — Their  Schools  215 

the  teacher’s  den,  which  was  cut  off  from  the 
main  room  by  a beautifully  carved  screen. 
Here  I was  introduced  to  the  Japanese  lady 
teacher  and  served  with  tea.  She  spoke  no 
English  and  but  little  Chinese,  and  the  em- 
barrassment of  our  effort  to  converse  was  only 
relieved  by  the  ringing  of  the  bell  for  school. 
The  pupils,  consisting  of  the  secondary  wives 
and  daughters  of  the  Prince,  his  son’s  wife,  and 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  his  dead  brother  who 
make  their  home  with  him,  entered  in  an  orderly 
way  and  took  their  seats.  When  the  teacher 
came  into  the  room  the  ladies  all  arose  and  re- 
mained standing  until  she  took  her  place  before 
her  desk  and  made  a low  bow  to  which  they  all 
responded  in  unison.  This  is  the  custom  in  all 
of  the  schools  I have  visited.  Even  where  the 
superintendent  is  Chinese,  the  pupils  stand  and 
make  a low  Japanese  bow  at  the  beginning  and 
close  of  each  recitation. 

“ How  long  has  the  school  been  in  session  ? ” 
I asked  the  Princess. 

“ Three  and  a half  months,”  she  replied. 

“ And  they  have  done  all  this  embroidery  and 
painting  in  that  time?  ” 

“They  have,  and  in  addition  have  pursued 
their  Western  studies,”  she  explained. 

In  arithmetic  the  teacher  placed  the  examples 
on  the  board,  the  pupils  worked  them  on  their 
slates,  after  which  each  was  called  upon  for  an 


2i6 


Court  Life  in  China 


explanation,  which  she  gave  in  Japanese. 
While  this  class  was  reciting  the  Prince  came  in 
and  asked  if  we  might  not  have  calisthenics, 
evidently  thinking  that  I would  enjoy  the  drill 
more  than  the  mathematics.  It  was  interesting 
to  see  those  Manchu  ladies  stand  and  go  through 
a thorough  physical  drill  to  the  tune  of  a lively 
march  on  a foreign  organ.  The  Japanese  are 
masters  in  matters  of  physical  drill,  and  in  the 
schools  I have  visited  I have  been  pleased  at  the 
quiet  dignity,  and  the  reserve  force  and  sweet- 
ness of  their  Japanese  teachers.  The  precision 
and  unanimity  with  which  orders  were  executed 
both  surprised  and  delighted  me.  Everything 
about  these  schools  was  good  except  the  singing, 
which  was  excruciatingly  poor.  The  Chinese 
have  naturally  clear,  sweet  voices,  with  a tend- 
ency to  a minor  tone,  which,  with  proper  train- 
ing, admit  of  fair  development.  But  the  Jap- 
anese teacher  dragged  and  sang  in  a nasal  tone, 
in  which  the  pupils  followed  her,  evidently 
thinking  it  was  ; proper  Western  music.  I was 
rather  amused  to  see  the  younger  pupils  go 
through  a dignified  dance  or  march  to  the 
familiar  strains  of  “ Shall  we  gather  at  the 
river,”  which  the  eldest  daughter  played  on  the 
organ. 

“ The  young  ladies  do  not  comb  their  hair  in 
the  regular  Manchu  style,”  I observed  to  the 
Princess. 


The  Princesses — Their  Schools  2).  7 

“No,”  she  answered,  “we  do  not  think  that 
best.  It  is  not  very  convenient,  and  so  we  have 
them  dress  it  in  the  small  coil  on  top  of  the  head 
as  you  see.  Neither  do  we  allow  them  to  wear 
flowers  in  their  hair,  nor  to  paint  or  powder,  or 
wear  shoes  with  centre  elevations  on  the  soles. 
We  try  to  give  them  the  greatest  possible  con- 
venience and  comfort.” 

They  were  proud  of  their  bits  of  crocheting 
and  embroidery,  each  of  which  was  marked 
with  the  name  of  the  person  who  did  it  and  the 
date  when  it  was  completed.  Many  of  them 
were  made  of  pretty  silk  thread  in  a very  intri- 
cate pattern,  though  I admired  their  drawing 
and  painting  still  more. 

“ Of  what  does  their  course  of  study  consist  ?” 
I asked  the  Princess. 

She  went  to  the  wall  and  took  down  a neat 
gilt  frame  which  contained  their  curriculum,  and 
which  she  asked  her  eldest  daughter  to  copy  for 
me.  They  had  five  studies  each  day,  six  days  of 
the  week,  Sunday  being  a holiday.  They  be- 
gan with  arithmetic,  followed  it  up  with  Japanese 
language,  needlework,  music  and  calisthenics, 
then  took  Chinese  language,  drawing,  and 
Chinese  history  with  the  writing  of  the  ideo- 
graphs of  their  own  language,  which  was  one  of 
the  most  difficult  tasks  they  had  to  perform. 
The  dignified  way  in  which  the  pupils  con- 
ducted themselves,  the  respect  which  they 


2i8 


Court  Life  in  China 


showed  their  teacher,  and  the  way  in  which  they 
went  about  their  work,  delighted  me.  The 
discipline  it  gave  them,  the  self-respect  it 
engendered,  and  the  power  of  acquisition  that 
came  with  it  were  worth  more  perhaps  than  the 
knowledge  they  acquired,  useful  as  that  infor- 
mation must  have  been. 

The  Princess  Ka-la-chin,  the  fifth  sister  of 
Prince  Su,  is  married  to  the  Mongolian  Prince 
Ka-la.  It  is  a rule  among  the  Manchus  that  no 
prince  can  marry  a princess  of  their  own  people, 
but  like  the  Emperor  himself,  must  seek  their 
wives  from  among  the  untitled.  These  ladies 
after  their  marriage  are  raised  to  the  rank  of 
their  husbands.  It  is  the  same  with  the 
daughters  of  a prince.  Their  husbands  must 
come  from  among  the  people,  but  unlike  the 
princes  they  cannot  raise  them  to  their  own 
rank,  and  so  their  children  have  no  place  in  the 
imperial  clan.  Many  of  the  princesses  therefore 
prefer  to  marry  Mongolian  princes,  by  which 
they  retain  their  rank  as  well  as  that  of  their 
children. 

Naturally  a marriage  of  this  kind  brings 
changes  into  the  life  of  the  princess.  She  has 
been  brought  up  in  a palace  in  the  capital,  lives 
on  Chinese  food,  and  is  not  inured  to  hardships. 
When  she  marries  a Mongol  prince,  she  is  taken 
to  the  Mongolian  plains,  is  not  infrequently 
compelled  to  live  in  a tent,  and  her  food  consists 


The  Princesses — Their  Schools  21  g 

largely  of  milk,  butter,  cheese  and  meat,  most  of 
which  are  an  abomination  to  the  Chinese.  They 
especially  loathe  butter  and  cheese,  and  not  in- 
frequently speak  of  the  foreigner  smelling  like 
the  Mongol — an  odour  which  they  say  is  the  re- 
sult of  these  two  articles  of  diet. 

Prince  Su’s  fifth  sister  was  fortunate  in  being 
married  to  a Mongol  prince  who  was  not  a 
nomad.  He  had  established  a sort  of  village 
capital  of  his  possessions,  the  chief  feature  of 
which  was  his  own  palace.  Here  he  lives  dur- 
ing the  summers  and  part  of  . the  winters ; 
though  once  in  three  years  he  is  compelled  to 
spend  at  least  three  months  in  his  palace  in 
Peking  when  he  comes  to  do  homage  to  the 
Emperor. 

During  one  of  these  visits  to  Peking  the 
Princess  sent  for  me  to  come  to  her  palace.  I 
naturally  supposed  she  was  ill,  and  so  took  with 
me  my  medical  outfit,  but  her  first  greeting  was : 

“I  am  not  ill,  nor  is  any  member  of  my  family, 
but  I wanted  to  see  you  to  have  a talk  with  you 
about  foreign  countries.” 

She  had  prepared  elaborate  refreshments,  and 
while  we  sat  eating,  she  directed  the  conversation 
towards  mines  and  mining,  and  then  said : 

“ My  husband,  the  Prince,  is  very  much  inter- 
ested in  this  subject,  and  believes  that  there  are 
rich  stores  of  ore  on  his  principality  in  Mon- 
golia.” 


220 


Court  Life  in  China 


“ Indeed,  that  is  very  interesting,”  I answered. 

“ You  know,  of  course,  it  is  a rule,”  she  went 
on  to  say,  “ that  no  prince  of  the  realm  is  allowed 
to  go  more  than  a few  miles  from  the  capital 
without  special  permission  from  the  throne,” 

“ No,  I was  not  aware  of  that  fact.” 

She  then  went  on  to  say  that  her  husband  was 
anxious  to  attend  the  St.  Louis  Exposition,  and 
study  this  subject  in  America,  but  so  long  as 
these  hindrances  remained  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  do  so.  She  then  said  : 

“ I am  very  much  interested  in  the  educational 
system  of  your  honourable  country,  and  espe- 
cially in  your  method  of  conducting  girls’ 
schools,” 

“ Would  you  not  like  to  come  and  visit  our 
girls’  high  school?”  I asked. 

“ I should  be  delighted,”  she  replied. 

This  she  did,  and  before  leaving  the  capital 
she  sent  for  a Japanese  lady  teacher  whom  she 
took  with  her  to  her  Mongolian  home,  where  she 
established  a school  for  Mongolian  girls. 

In  this  school  she  had  a regular  system  of 
rules,  which  did  not  tally  with  the  undisciplined 
methods  of  the  Mongolians,  and  it  was  amusing 
to  hear  her  tell  how  it  was  often  necessary  for  the 
Prince  to  go  about  in  the  morning  and  wake  up 
the  girls  in  order  to  get  them  into  school  at  nine 
o’clock. 

The  next  time  she  came  to  Peking  she  brought 


The  Princesses — Their  Schools  221 


with  her  seventeen  of  her  brightest  girls  to  see 
the  sights  of  the  city  and  visit  some  of  the 
girls’  schools,  both  Christian  and  non-Christian. 
Everything  was  new  to  them  and  it  was  inter- 
esting to  hear  their  remarks  as  I showed  them 
through  our  home  and  our  high  school.  When 
the  Princess  returned  to  Mongolia  she  took  with 
her  a cultured  young  Chinese  lady  of  unusual 
literary  attainments  to  teach  the  Chinese  classics 
in  the  school.  This  is  the  only  school  I have 
known  that  was  established  by  a Manchu  princess, 
for  Mongolian  girls,  and  taught  by  Chinese  and 
Japanese  teachers.  This  young  lady  was  the 
daughter  of  the  president  of  the  Board  of  Rites, 
head  examiner  for  literary  degrees  for  all  China, 
and  was  himself  a chitang  yua^t^  or  graduate  of 
the  highest  standing.  Before  going,  this  Chinese 
teacher  had  small  bound  feet,  but  she  had  not 
been  long  on  the  plains  before  she  unbound  her 
feet,  dressed  herself  in  suitable  clothing,  and 
went  with  the  Princess  and  the  Japanese  teacher 
for  a horseback  ride  across  the  plains  in  the  early 
morning,  a thing  which  a Chinese  lady,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  is  never  known  to  do. 
The  school  is  still  growing  in  size  and  usefulness. 

Prince  Su’s  third  sister  is  married  to  a com- 
moner, but  as  is  usual  with  these  ladies  who 
marry  beneath  their  own  rank,  she  retains  her 
maiden  title  of  Third  Princess,  by  which  she  is 
always  addressed. 


222 


Court  Life  in  China 


“How  did  you  obtain  your  education?”  I 
once  asked  her. 

“ During  my  childhood,”  she  answered,  “ my 
mother  was  opposed  to  having  her  daughters 
learn  to  read,  but  like  most  wealthy  families, 
she  had  old  men  come  into  the  palace  to  read 
stories  or  recite  poetry  for  our  entertainment.  I 
not  infrequently  followed  the  old  men  out,  bought 
the  books  from  which  they  read,  and  then  bribed 
some  of  the  eunuchs  to  teach  me  to  read  them. 
In  this  way  I obtained  a fair  knowledge  of  the 
Chinese  character.” 

She  is  as  deeply  interested  in  the  new  educa- 
tional movement  among  girls  as  is  her  sister. 
When  this  desire  for  Western  education  began, 
she  organized  a school,  in  which  she  has  eighty 
girls  or  more,  taken  from  various  grades  of  society, 
whom  she  and  some  of  her  friends,  in  addition 
to  employing  teachers  and  providing  the  school- 
rooms, gave  a good  part  of  their  time  to  teaching 
the  Chinese  classics,  while  a Japanese  lady  taught 
them  calisthenics  and  the  rudiments  of  Western 
mathematics. 

She  is  aggressively  pro-foreign,  and  is  ready 
to  do  anything  that  will  contribute  to  the  success 
of  the  new  educational  movement,  and  the  free- 
dom of  the  Chinese  woman.  On  one  occasion 
when  the  Chinese  in  Peking  undertook  to 
raise  a fund  for  famine  relief,  they  called  a 
large  public  meeting  to  which  men  and  women 


The  Princesses — Their  Schools  223 

were  alike  invited,  the  first  meeting  of  the  kind 
ever  held  in  Peking.  Such  a gathering  could 
not  have  occurred  before  the  Boxer  rebellion. 
The  Third  Princess,  having  promised  to  help 
provide  the  programme,  took  a number  of  her 
girls,  and  on  a large  rostrum,  had  them  go 
through  their  calisthenic  exercises  for  the  enter- 
tainment of  the  audience.  On  another  occasion 
she  took  all  her  girls  to  a private  box  at  a 
Chinese  circus,  where  men  and  women  acrobats 
and  horseback  riders  performed  in  a ring  not 
unlike  that  of  our  own  circus  riders.  In  this 
circus  small-footed  women  rode  horseback  as 
well  as  the  women  in  our  ov/n  circus,  and  one 
woman  with  bound  feet  lay  down  on  her  back, 
balanced  a cart-wheel,  weighing  at  least  a hun- 
dred pounds,  on  her  feet,  whirling  it  rapidly  all 
the  time,  and  then  after  it  stopped  she  continued 
to  hold  it  while  two  women  and  a child  climbed 
on  top.  The  Princess  was  determined  to  allow 
her  girls  to  have  all  the  advantages  the  city 
afforded. 

At  the  school  of  this  Third  Princess  I once  at- 
tended a unique  memorial  service.  A lady  of 
Hang  Chou,  finding  it  impossible  to  secure 
sufficient  money  by  ordinary  methods  for  the 
support  of  a school  that  she  had  established,  cut 
a deep  gash  in  her  arm  and  then  sat  in  the 
temple  court  during  the  day  of  the  fair,  with  a 
board  beside  her  on  which  was  inscribed  the  ex- 


224 


Court  Life  in  China 


planation  of  her  unusual  conduct.  This  brought 
her  in  some  three  hundred  ounces  of  silver  with 
which  she  provided  for  her  school  the  first  year. 
When  it  was  exhausted  and  she  could  get  no 
more,  she  wrote  letters  to  the  officials  of  her 
province,  in  which  she  asked  for  subscriptions 
and  urged  the  importance  of  female  education, 
to  which  she  said  she  was  willing  to  give 
her  life.  To  her  appeal  the  officials  paid  no 
heed,  and  she  finally  wrote  other  letters  renewing 
her  request  for  help  to  establish  the  school,  after 
which  she  committed  suicide.  The  letters  were 
sent,  and  later  published  in  the  local  and  general 
newspapers.  Memorial  services  were  held  in 
various  parts  of  the  empire  at  all  of  vffiich 
funds  were  gathered  not  only  for  her  school 
but  for  establishing  other  schools  throughout  the 
provinces. 

The  school  of  the  Third  Princess  at  which 
this  service  was  held  was  profusely  decorated. 
Chinese  flags  floated  over  the  gates  and  door- 
ways. Beautifully  written  scrolls,  telling  the 
reason  for  the  service  and  lauding  the  virtues  of 
the  lady,  covered  the  walls  of  the  schoolroom. 
At  the  second  entrance  there  was  a table  at 
which  sat  a scribe  who  took  our  name  and  ad- 
dress and  gave  us  a copy  of  the  “ order  of  ex- 
ercises.” Here  we  were  met  by  the  Third 
Princess,  who  conducted  us  into  the  main  hall. 
Opposite  the  doorway  was  hung  a portrait  of  the 


The  Princesses — Their  Schools  225 

lady,  wreathed  in  artificial  flowers,  and  painted 
by  a Chinese  artist.  A table  stood  before  it  on 
which  was  a plate  of  fragrant  quinces,  candles, 
and  burning  incense,  giving  it  the  appearance 
of  a shrine.  Pots  of  flowers  were  arranged  about 
the  room,  which  was  unusually  clean  and  beauti- 
ful. The  Chinese  guests  bowed  three  times  be- 
fore the  picture  on  entering  the  room,  which  I 
thought  a very  pretty  ceremony. 

The  girls  of  this  school,  to  the  number  of  about 
sixty,  appeared  in  blue  uniform,  courtesying  to 
the  guests.  Sixteen  other  girls’  schools  of  Peking 
were  represented  either  by  teachers  or  pupils  or 
both.  One  of  the  boys’  schools  came  en  masse, 
dressed  in  military  uniform,  led  by  a band,  and 
a drillmaster  with  a sword  dangling  at  his  side. 
Addresses  were  made  by  both  ladies  and  gentle- 
men, chief  among  whom  were  the  Third  Princess 
and  the  editress  of  the  V/o?nan's  Daily  News- 
paper, the  only  woman’s  daily  at  that  time  in  the 
world,  who  urged  the  importance  of  the  estab- 
lishment and  endowment  of  schools  for  the  edu- 
cation of  girls  throughout  the  empire. 


XV 


The  Chinese  Ladies  of  Rank 


Though  your  husband  may  be  wealthy, 

You  should  never  be  profuse ; 

There  should  always  be  a limit 
To  the  things  you  eat  and  use. 

If  your  husband  should  be  needy, 

You  should  gladly  share  the  same, 

And  be  diligent  and  thrifty, 

And  no  other  people  blame. 

The  Primer  for  Girls,"  Translated  by  I.  T.  H 


XV 

THE  CHINESE  LADIES  OF  RANK* 

The  Manchu  lady’s  ideal  of  beauty  is 
dignity,  and  to  this  both  her  deport- 
ment and  her  costume  contribute  in  a 
well-nigh  equal  degree.  Her  hair,  put  up  on 
silver  or  jade  jewelled  hairpins,  decorated  with 
many  flowers,  is  very  heavy,  and  easily  tilted  to 
one  side  or  the  other  if  not  carried  with  the 
utmost  sedateness.  Her  long  garments,  reach- 
ing from  her  shoulders  to  the  floor,  give  to  her 
tall  figure  an  added  height,  and  the  central 
elevation  of  from  four  to  six  inches  to  the  soles 
of  her  daintily  embroidered  slippers,  compel  her 
to  stand  erect  and  walk  slowly  and  majestically. 
She  laughs  but  little,  seldom  jests,  but  preserves 
a serious  air  in  whatever  she  does. 

The  Chinese  lady,  on  the  contrary,  aspires  to 
be  petite,  winsome,  affable  and  helpless.  She 
laughs  much,  enjoys  a joke,  and  is  always  good- 
natured  and  chatty. 

One  of  their  poets  thus  describes  a noted  beauty ; 

1 Taken  from  Mrs.  Headland’s  note-book, 

229 


230  Court  Life  in  China 

At  one  moment  with  tears  her  bright  eyes  would  be 
swimming, 

The  next  with  mischief  and  fun  they’d  be  brimming. 

Thousands  of  sonnets  were  written  in  praise  of  them, 

Li  Po  wrote  a song  for  each  separate  phase  of  them. 

“ Bashfully,  swimmingly,  pleadingly,  scoffingly, 
Temptingly,  languidly,  lovingly,  laughingly, 
Witchingly,  roguishly,  playfully,  naughtily. 
Willfully,  waywardly,  meltingly,  haughtily, 
Gleamed  the  eyes  of  Yang  Kuei  Fei. 

“ Her  ruby  lips  and  peach-bloom  cheeks, 

Would  match  the  rose  in  hue. 

If  one  were  kissed  the  other  speaks, 

With  blushes,  kiss  me  too.” 

She  combs  her  hair  in  a neat  coil  on  the  back 
of  her  head,  uses  few  flowers,  but  instead  prefers 
profuse  decorations  of  pearls.  Her  upper  gar- 
ment extends  but  little  below  her  knees,  and  her 
lower  garment  is  an  accordion-plaited  skirt,  from 
beneath  which  the  pointed  toes  of  her  small 
bound  feet  appear  as  she  walks  or  sways  on  her 
” golden  lilies,”  as  if  she  were  a flower  blown,  by 
the  wind,  to  which  the  Chinese  love  to  compare 
her.  Her  waist  is  a “ willow  waist  ” in  poetry, 
and  her  “ golden  lilies,”  as  her  tiny  feet  are  often 
called,  are  not  more  than  two  or  three  inches 
long — -so  small  that  it  not  infrequently  requires 
the  assistance  of  a servant  or  two  to  help  her  to 
walk  at  all.  And  though  she  may  not  need  them 


The  Chinese  Ladies  of  Rank  231 

she  affects  to  be  so  helpless  as  to  require  their 
aid. 

Until  very  recently  education  was  discouraged 
rather  than  sought  by  the  Manchu  lady.  Many 
of  the  princesses  could  not  read  the  simplest 
book  nor  write  a letter  to  a friend,  but  depended 
upon  educated  eunuchs  to  perform  these  services 
for  them.  The  Chinese  lady  on  the  contrary  can 
usually  read  and  write  with  ease,  and  the  educa- 
tion of  some  of  them  is  equal  to  that  of  a Hanlin. 

Socially  the  ladies  of  these  two  classes  never 
meet.  Their  husbands  may  be  of  equal  rank 
and  well  known  to  each  other  in  official  life,  but 
the  ladies  have  no  wish  to  meet  each  other.  One 
day  while  the  granddaughter  of  one  of  the  Chi- 
nese Grand  Secretaries  was  calling  upon  me,  the 
sisters  of  Prince  Ching  and  Prince  Su  were  an- 
nounced. When  they  entered  I introduced  them. 
The  dignity  of  the  two  princesses  when  presented 
led  me  to  fear  that  we  would  have  a cold  time  to- 
gether. I explained  who  my  Chinese  lady  friend 
was,  and  they  answered  in  a formal  way  {wai 
t ou  tou  jen  te,  li  tdu  lie  pujen  te)  “the  gentle- 
men of  our  respective  households  are  well  ac- 
quainted, not  so  the  ladies,”  but  the  ice  did  not 
melt.  For  a time  I did  my  best  to  find  a topic 
of  mutual  interest,  but  it  was  like  trying  to  mix 
oil  and  water.  I was  about  to  give  up  in  de- 
spair when  my  little  Chinese  friend,  observing  the 
dilemma  in  which  I was  placed,  and  the  effort  I 


232 


Court  Life  in  China 


was  making  to  relieve  the  situation,  threw  herself 
into  the  conversation  with  such  vigour  and  vi- 
vacity, and  suggested  topics  of  such  interest  to 
the  others  as  to  charm  these  reserved  princesses, 
and  it  was  not  long  until  they  were  talking  to- 
gether in  a most  animated  way. 

One  of  the  Manchu  ladies  expressed  regret  at 
the  falling  of  her  hair  and  the  fact  that  she  was 
getting  bald.  “ Why,”  said  my  little  Chinese 
friend,  “after  a severe  illness  not  long  since,  I 
lost  all  my  hair,  but  I received  a prescription 
from  a friend  which  restored  it  all,  and  just  look 
at  the  result,”  she  continued  turning  her  pretty 
head  with  its  great  coils  of  shiny  black  hair.  “ I 
will  be  delighted  to  let  you  have  it.”  The 
Manchu  princesses  finally  rose  to  depart,  and  in 
their  leave-taking,  they  were  as  cordial  to  my  lit- 
tle Chinese  friend,  who  had  made  herself  so 
agreeable,  as  they  were  to  me,  for  which  I shall 
ever  be  grateful. 

After  they  had  gone  I asked  : 

“Why  is  it  that  the  Manchu  and  Chinese 
ladies  do  not  intermingle  in  a social  way  ? ” 

“The  cause  dates  back  to  the  beginning  of 
the  Manchu  dynasty,”  she  responded.  “When 
the  Chinese  men  adopted  the  Manchu  style  of 
wearing  the  queue,  it  was  stipulated  that  they 
should  not  interfere  with  the  style  of  the 
woman’s  dress,  and  that  no  Chinese  should  be 
taken  to  the  palace  as  concubines  or  slaves  to 


CHINESE  LADIES  OF  RANKIN  WINTER  GARMENTS 

Showing  the  pearl  adornments  of  the  hair 


i 


The  Chinese  Ladies  of  Rank  233 

the  Emperor.  We  have  therefore  always  held 
ourselves  aloof  from  the  Manchus.  Our  men 
did  this  to  protect  us,  and  as  a result  no  Chinese 
lady  has  ever  been  received  at  court,  except,  of 
course,  the  painting  teacher  of  the  Empress 
Dowager,  who,  before  she  could  enter  the 
palace,  was  compelled  to  unbind  her  feet,  adopt 
the  Manchu  style  of  dress  and  take  a Manchu 
name.” 

“ Is  not  the  Empress  Dowager  very  much  op- 
posed to  foot-binding  ? Why  has  she  not  forbid- 
den it?” 

“ She  has  issued  edicts  recommending  them  to 
give  it  up,  but  to  forbid  it  is  beyond  her  power. 
That  would  be  interfering  with  the  Chinese 
ladies’  dress.” 

“ Do  the  Manchus  consider  themselves  su- 
perior to  the  Chinese  ? ” 

“It  is  a poor  rule  that  will  not  work  both 
ways.  Have  you  never  noticed  that  in  his 
edicts  the  Emperor  speaks  of  his  Manchu  slaves 
and  his  Chinese  subjects?” 

Among  my  lady  friends  is  one  whose  father 
died  when  she  was  a child,  and  she  was  brought 
up  in  the  home  of  her  grandfather  who  was  him- 
self a viceroy.  She  had  always  been  accustomed 
to  every  luxury  that  wealth  could  buy.  Clothed 
in  the  richest  embroidered  silks  and  satins,  deco- 
rated with  the  rarest  pearls  and  precious  stones, 
she  had  serving  women  and  slave  girls  to  wait 


234 


Court  Life  in  China 


upon  her,  and  humour  her  every  whim.  One 
day  when  we  were  talking  of  the  Boxer  insur- 
rection she  told  me  the  following  story  : 

“ Some  years  ago,”  she  said,  “ my  steward 
brought  me  a slave  girl  whom  he  had  bought 
from  her  father  on  the  street.  She  was  a bright, 
intelligent  and  obedient  little  girl,  and  I soon 
became  very  fond  of  her.  She  told  me  one  day 
that  her  grandmother  was  a Christian,  and  that 
she  had  been  baptized  and  attended  a Christian 
school.  Her  father,  however,  was  an  opium- 
smoker,  and  had  pawned  everything  he  had, 
and  finally  when  her  grandmother  was  absent 
had  taken  her  and  sold  her  to  get  money  to  buy 
opium.  She  asked  me  to  send  a messenger  to 
her  grandmother  and  tell  her  that  she  had  a 
good  home. 

“ I was  delighted  to  do  so  for  I knew  the  old 
woman  would  be  distressed  lest  the  child  had 
been  sold  to  a life  of  shame,  or  had  found  a 
cruel  mistress.  Unfortunately,  however,  my 
messenger  could  find  no  trace  of  the  grand- 
mother, as  the  neighbours  informed  him  that 
she  had  left  shortly  after  the  disappearance  of 
the  child. 

“ As  the  years  passed  the  child  grew  into 
womanhood.  She  was  very  capable,  kind  and 
thoughtful  for  others  and  I learned  to  depend 
upon  her  in  many  ways.  She  was  very  devoted 
to  me,  and  sought  to  please  me  in  every  way 


The  Chinese  Ladies  of  Rank  235 

she  could.  She  always  spoke  of  herself  as  a 
Christian  and  refused  to  worship  our  gods. 
When  the  Boxer  troubles  began  I took  my 
house-servants  and  went  to  my  grandfather’s 
home  thinking  that  the  Boxers  would  not  dare 
disturb  the  households  of  such  great  officials  as 
the  viceroys.  But  I soon  found  that  they  re- 
spected no  one  who  had  liberal  tendencies. 

“ One  day  there  was  a proclamation  posted  to 
the  effect  that  all  Christians  were  to  be  turned 
over  to  them,  and  that  any  one  found  concealing 
a Christian  would  themselves  be  put  to  death. 
My  grandmother  came  to  my  apartments  and 
wanted  me  to  send  my  slave  girl  to  the  Boxers. 
We  talked  about  it  for  some  time  but  I stead- 
fastly refused.  When  the  Boxers  had  procured  all 
they  could  by  that  method  they  announced  that 
they  were  about  to  make  a house-to-house 
search,  and  any  household  harbouring  Chris- 
tians would  be  annihilated.” 

“ But  how  would  they  know  that  your  slave 
was  a Christian  ? ” I inquired. 

“ Have  you  not  heard,”  she  asked,  “ that  the 
Boxers  claimed  that  after  going  through  certain 
incantations,  they  could  see  a cross  upon  the 
forehead  of  any  who  had  been  baptized?  ” 

“ And  did  you  believe  they  could  ? ” 

“ I did  then  but  I do  not  now.  Indeed  we  all 
did.  My  grandmother  came  to  me  and  posi- 
tively forbade  me  to  keep  the  slave  in  her  home. 


Court  Life  in  China 


236 

After  she  had  gone  the  girl  came  and  knelt  at 
my  feet  and  begged  me  to  save  her  1 How 
could  I send  her  out  to  death  when  she  had 
been  so  kind  and  faithful  to  me?  I finally  de- 
cided upon  a plan  to  save  her.  I determined  to 
flee  with  her  to  the  home  of  an  uncle  who  lived 
in  a town  a hundred  miles  or  more  from  Peking, 
where  I hoped  the  Boxers  were  less  powerful 
than  they  were  at  the  capital. 

“ This  uncle  was  the  lieutenant-governor  of 
the  province  and  had  always  been  very  fond  of 
me,  and  I knew  if  I could  reach  him  I should  win 
his  sympathy  and  his  aid.  But  how  was  this  to 
be  done  ? All  travellers  were  suspected,  searched 
and  examined.  For  two  women  to  be  travelling 
alone,  when  the  country  was  in  such  a state  of 
unrest,  could  not  but  bring  upon  themselves 
suspicion,  and  should  we  be  searched,  the  cross 
upon  the  forehead  would  surely  be  found,  and 
we  would  be  condemned  to  the  cruel  tortures  in 
which  the  Boxers  were  said  to  delight. 

“ After  much  thought  and  planning  the  only 
possible  method  seemed  to  be  to  flee  as  beggars. 
You  know  women  beggars  are  found  upon  the 
roads  at  all  times  and  they  excite  little  suspicion. 
Then  in  the  hot  summer  it  is  not  uncommon  for 
them  to  wrap  their  head  and  forehead  in  a piece 
of  cloth  to  protect  them  from  the  fierce  rays  of 
the  sun.  In  this  way  I hoped  to  conceal  the 
cross  from  observation  in  case  we  came  into  the 


The  Chinese  Ladies  of  Rank  237 

presence  of  the  Boxers.  We  confided  our  plans 
to  a couple  of  the  women  servants  whom  we 
could  trust,  and  asked  them  to  procure  proper 
outfits  for  us.  They  did  so,  and  oh ! what  dirty 
old  rags  they  were.  The  servants  wept  as  they 
took  off  and  folded  up  my  silk  garments  and  clad 
me  in  this  beggar’s  garb.” 

“ But  your  skin  is  so  soft  and  fair,  not  at  all 
like  the  skin  of  a woman  exposed  to  the  sun  ; and 
your  black,  shiny  hair  is  not  at  all  rusty  and 
dirty  like  the  hair  of  a beggar  woman.  I should 
think  these  facts  would  have  caused  your  detec- 
tion,” I urged. 

” That  was  easily  remedied.  We  stained  our 
faces,  necks,  hands  and  arms,  and  we  took  down 
our  hair  and  literally  rolled  it  in  dust  which  the 
servants  brought  from  the  street.  Oh ! but  it 
was  nasty  ! such  an  odour  ! It  was  only  the  sa- 
ving of  the  life  of  that  faithful  slave  that  could 
have  induced  me  to  do  it.  I had  to  take  off  my 
little  slippers  and  wrap  my  feet  in  dirty  rags  such 
as  beggars  wear.  We  could  take  but  a little 
copper  cash  with  us.  To  be  seen  with  silver 
or  gold  would  have  at  once  brought  suspicion 
upon  us,  while  bank-notes  were  useless  in  those 
days. 

“ In  the  early  morning,  before  any  one  was 
astir  we  were  let  out  of  a back  gate.  It  was  the 
first  time  I had  ever  walked  on  the  street.  I had 
always  been  accustomed  to  going  in  my  closed 


Court  Life  in  China 


238 

cart  with  outriders  and  servants.  I shrank  from 
staring  eyes,  and  thought  every  glance  was  sus- 
picious. My  slave  was  more  timid  than  I and  so 
I must  take  the  initiative.  I had  been  accustomed 
to  seeing  street  beggars  from  behind  the  screened 
windows  of  my  cart  ever  since  I was  a child  and 
so  I knew  how  I ought  to  act,  but  at  first  it  was 
difficult  indeed.  Soon,  however,  we  learned  to 
play  our  part,  though  it  seems  now  like  a hideous 
dream.  We  kept  on  towards  the  great  gate 
through  which  we  passed  out  of  the  city  on  to 
the  highway  which  led  to  our  destination. 

“ The  first  time  we  met  a Boxer  procession  my 
knees  knocked  together  in  my  fear  of  detection 
but  they  passed  by  without  giving  us  a glance. 
We  met  them  often  after  this,  and  before  we  fin- 
ished our  journey  I learned  to  doubt  their  claim 
to  detect  Christians  by  the  sign  of  the  cross. 

“We  ate  at  the  roadside  booths,  slept  often  in 
a gateway  or  by  the  side  of  a wall  under  the 
open  sky,  and  after  several  days’  wandering,  we 
reached  the  yamen  of  my  uncle.  But  we  dare 
not  enter  and  reveal  our  identity,  lest  we  impli- 
cate them,  for  we  found  the  Boxers  strong  every- 
where, and  even  the  officials  feared  their  prowess. 
We  hung  about  the  yamen  begging  in  such  a 
way  as  not  to  arouse  suspicion,  until  an  old  serv- 
ant who  had  been  in  the  family  for  many  years, 
and  whom  I knew  well,  came  upon  the  street. 
I followed  him  begging  until  we  were  out  of  ear- 


The  Chinese  Ladies  of  Rank  239 

shot  of  others,  and  then  told  him  in  a singsong, 
whining  tone,  such  as  beggars  use,  who  I was 
and  why  I w^as  there,  and  asked  him  to  let  my 
uncle  know,  and  said  that  if  they  would  open  the 
small  gate  in  the  evening  we  would  be  near  and 
could  enter  unobserved. 

“At  first  he  could  not  believe  it  was  I,  for  by 
this  time  we  indeed  looked  like  veritable  beggars, 
but  he  was  finally  convinced  and  promised  to  tell 
my  uncle.  After  nightfall  he  opened  the  gate 
and  led  us  in  by  a back  passage  to  my  aunt’s 
apartments  where  she  and  my  uncle  were  wait- 
ing for  me.  They  both  burst  into  tears  as  they 
beheld  my  plight.  Two  old  serving  women,  who 
had  been  many  years  in  the  family,  helped  us  to 
change  our  clothes  and  gave  us  a bath  and  food. 
My  feet  had  suffered  the  most.  They  were 
swollen  and  ulcerated  and  the  dirty  rags  and 
dust  adhering  to  the  sores  had  left  them  in  a 
wretched  condition.  It  took  many  baths  before 
we  were  clean,  and  weeks  before  my  feet  were 
healed. 

“We  remained  with  my  uncle  until  the  close 
of  the  Boxer  trouble,  and  until  my  grandfather’s 
return  from  Hsian  where  he  had  gone  with  the 
Empress  Dowager  and  the  court,  and  then  I 
came  back  to  Peking.’’ 

“ Your 'grandmother  must  have  felt  ashamed 
when  she  heard  how  hard  it  had  gone  with  you,” 
I remarked. 


240 


Court  Life  in  China 


“ We  never  mentioned  the  matter  when  talking 
together.  That  was  a time  when  every  one’  was 
for  himself.  Death  stared  us  all  in  the  face.” 

“ Where  is  your  slave  girl  now  ? I should 
like  to  see  her,”  I remarked. 

“ After  the  troubles  were  over  I married  her  to 
a young  man  of  my  uncle’s  household.  I will 
send  for  her  and  bring  her  to  see  you.” 

She  did  so.  I found  she  had  forgotten  much 
of  what  she  had  learned  of  Christianity,  but  she 
remembered  that  there  was  but  one  God  and  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  His  Son  to  whom  alone  she 
should  pray.  She  also  remembered  that  as  a 
small  child  she  had  been  baptized,  and  that  in 
school  she  had  been  taught  that  “ we  should 
love  one  another  ” ; this  was  about  the  extent  of 
her  Gospel,  but  it  had  touched  the  heart  of  her 
charming  little  mistress  and  had  saved  her  life. 

There  were  sometimes  amusing  things  hap- 
pened when  these  Chinese  ladies  called.  My 
husband  among  other  things  taught  astronomy 
in  the  university.  He  had  a small  telescope 
with  which  he  and  the  students  often  examined 
the  planets,  and  they  were  especiall}^  interested 
in  Jupiter  and  his  moons.  One  evening,  con- 
trary to  her  custom,  this  same  friend  was  calling 
after  dark,  and  when  the  students  had  finished 
with  Jupiter  and  his  moons,  my  husband  invited 
us  to  view  them,  as  they  were  especially  clear 
on  that  particular  evening. 


The  Chinese  Ladies  of  Rank  241 

After  she  had  looked  at  them  for  a while,  and 
as  my  husband  was  closing  up  the  telescope,  she 
exclaimed  ; “ That  is  the  kind  of  an  instrument 

that  some  foreigners  sent  as  a present  to  my 
grandfather  while  he  was  viceroy,  but  it  was 
larger  than  this  one.” 

“And  did  he  use  it? ” asked  my  husband. 

“ No,  we  did  not  know  what  it  was  for.  Be- 
sides my  grandfather  was  too  busy  with  the 
affairs  of  the  government  to  try  to  under- 
stand it.” 

“ And  where  is  it  now  ? ” asked  Mr.  Headland, 
thinking  that  the  viceroy  might  be  willing  to 
donate  it  to  the  college. 

“ I do  not  know,”  she  answered.  “ The  serv- 
ants thought  it  was  a pump  and  tried  to  pump 
water  with  it,  but  it  would  not  work.  It  is 
probably  among  the  junk  in  some  of  the  back 
rooms.” 

“ I wonder  if  we  could  not  find  it  and  fix  it 
up,”  my  husband  persisted. 

“ I am  afraid  not,”  she  answered.  “ The  last 
I saw  of  it,  the  servants  had  taken  the  glass  out 
of  the  small  end  and  were  using  it  to  look  at  in- 
sects on  the  bed.” 

One  day  when  one  of  my  friends  came  to  call 
I said  to  her  ; “ It  is  a long  time  since  I have 

seen  you.  Have  you  been  out  of  the  city  ? ” 

“ Yes,  I have  been  spending  some  months  wdth 
my  father-in-law,  the  viceroy  of  the  Canton  prov- 


242 


Court  Life  in  China 


inces.  His  wife  has  died,  and  I have  returned  to 
Peking  to  get  him  a concubine.” 

” How  old  is  he  ? ” I inquired. 

“ Seventy-two  years,”  she  replied. 

“And  how  will  you  undertake  to  secure  a 
concubine  for  such  an  old  man  ? ” 

“ I shall  probably  buy  one.” 

A few  weeks  afterwards  she  called  again  hav- 
ing with  her  a good-looking  young  woman  of 
about  seventeen,  her  hair  beautifully  combed, 
her  face  powdered  and  painted,  and  clothed  in 
rich  silk  and  satin  garments,  whom  she  intro- 
duced as  the  young  lady  procured  for  her  father- 
in-law.  She  explained  that  she  had  bought  her 
from  a poor  country  family  for  three  hundred  and 
fifty  ounces  of  silver. 

“ Don’t  you  think  it  is  cruel  for  parents  to  sell 
their  daughters  in  this  way  ? ” I asked. 

” Perhaps,”  she  answered.  “ But  with  the 
money  they  received  for  her,  they  can  buy  land 
enough  to  furnish  them  a good  support  all  their 
life.  She  will  always  have  rich  food,  fine  cloth- 
ing and  an  easy  time,  with  nothing  to  do  but  en- 
joy herself,  while  if  she  had  remained  at  home 
she  must  have  married  some  poor  man  who 
might  or  might  not  have  treated  her  well,  and  for 
whom  she  would  have  to  work  like  a slave. 
Now  she  is  nominally  a slave  with  nothing  to  do 
and  with  every  comfort,  in  addition  to  what  she 
has  done  for  her  family.” 


The  Chinese  Ladies  of  Rank  243 

While  we  were  having  tea  she  asked  to  see 
Mr.  Headland,  as  many  of  the  older  of  my  friends 
did.  I invited  him  in,  and  as  he  entered  the 
dining-room  the  young  woman  stepped  out  into 
the  hall. 

My  friend  greeted  my  husband,  and  with  a 
mysterious  nod  of  her  head  in  the  direction  of  the 
young  woman  she  said : “ Chiu  shih  na  ke^ — 

that’s  it.” 


'I. 

i 


-i 


f 


XVI 

The  Social  Life  of  the  Chinese  Woman 


The  manners  and  customs  of  the  Chinese,  and  their 
social  characteristics,  have  employed  many  pens  and  many 
tongues,  and  will  continue  to  furnish  an  inexhaustible 
field  for  students  of  sociology,  of  religion,  of  philosophy, 
of  civilization,  for  centuries  to  come.  Such  studies,  how- 
ever, scarcely  touch  the  province  of  the  practical,  at  least 
as  yet,  for  one  principal  reason — that  the  subject  is  so  vast, 
the  data  are  so  infinite,  as  to  overwhelm  the  student  rather 
than  assist  him  in  sound  generalizations. 

— A.  R.  Colquhoun  in  “ China  in  Transformation.” 


XVI 


THE  SOCIAL  LIFE  OF  THE  CHINESE  WOMAN 

The  home  life  of  a.  people  is  too  sacred  to 
be  touched  except  by  the  hand  of  friend- 
ship. Our  doors  are  closed  to  strangers, 
locked  to  enemies,  and  opened  only  to  those  of 
our  own  race  who  are  in  harmony  and  sympathy 
with  us.  What  then  shall  we  say  when  people  of 
an  alien  race  come  seeking  admission  ? They 
must  bring  some  social  distinction, — letters  of  in- 
troduction, or  an  ability  to  help  us  in  ways  in 
which  we  cannot  help  ourselves. 

In  the  case  of  a people  as  exclusive  as  the  Chi- 
nese this  is  especially  true,  so  that  with  the  ex- 
ception of  one  or  two  women  physicians  and  the 
wife  of  one  of  our  diplomats  no  one  has  ever  been 
admitted  in  a social  as  well  as  professional  way 
to  the  w^omen’s  apartments  of  the  homes  of  the 
better  class  of  the  Chinese  people. 

A Chinese  home  is  different  from  our  own.  It 
is  composed  of  many  one-story  buildings,  around 
open  courts,  one  behind  the  other,  and  sometimes 
covers  several  acres  of  ground.  Then  it  is  di- 
vided into  men’s  and  women’s  apartments,  the 
men  receiving  their  friends  in  theirs  and  the 
women  likewise  receiving  their  friends  by  a side 

247 


Court  Life  in  China 


248 

gate  in  their  own  apartments,  which  are  at  the 
rear  of  the  dwelling.  A wealthy  man  usually,  in 
addition  to  his  wife,  has  one  or  more  concubines, 
and  each  of  these  ladies  has  an  apartment  of  her 
own  for  herself  and  her  children, — though  all  the 
children  of  all  the  concubines  reckon  as  belong- 
ing to  the  first  wife. 

I have  heard  Sir  Robert  Hart  tell  an  amusing 
incident  which  occurred  in  Peking.  He  said 
that  the  Chinese  minister  appointed  to  the  court 
of  Saint  James  came  to  call  on  him  before  setting 
out  upon  his  journey.  After  conversing  for  some 
time  he  said  : 

“ I should  be  glad  to  see  Lady  Hart.  I be- 
lieve it  is  customary  in  calling  on  a foreign  gen- 
tleman to  see  his  lady,  is  it  not  ? ” 

“It  is,”  said  Sir  Robert,  “and  I should  be  de- 
lighted to  have  you  see  her,  but  Lady  Hart  is  in 
England  with  our  children,  and  has  not  been 
here  for  twenty  years.” 

“ Ah,  indeed,  then  perhaps  I might  see  your 
second  wife.” 

“ That  you  might,  if  I had  one.  But  the  cus- 
toms of  our  country  do  not  allow  us  to  have  a 
second  wife.  Indeed  they  would  imprison  us  if 
we  were  to  have  two  wives.” 

“ How  singular,”  said  the  official  with  a nod 
of  his  head.  “You  do  not  appreciate  the  advan- 
tages of  this  custom  of  ours.” 

That  there  are  advantages  in  this  custom  from 


Social  Life  of  the  Chinese  Woman  249 

the  Chinese  point  of  view,  I have  no  doubt.  But 
from  certain  things  I have  heard  I fear  there 
are  disadvantages  as  well.  One  day  the  head 
eunuch  from  the  palace  of  one  of  the  leading 
princes  in  Peking  came  to  ask  my  wife,  who  was 
their  physician,  to  go  to  see  some  of  the  women 
or  children  who  were  ill.  It  was  drawing  near 
to  the  New  Year  festival  and,  of  course,  they  had 
their  own  absorbing  topics  of  conversation  in  the 
servants’  courts.  I said  to  him ; 

“The  Prince  has  a good  many  children,  has 
he  not  ? ” 

“ Twenty-three,”  he  answered. 

“ How  many  concubines  has  he  ? ” I inquired. 

“Three,”  he  replied,  “but  he  expects  to  take 
on  two  more  after  the  holidays.” 

“ Doesn’t  it  cause  trouble  in  a family  for  a 
man  to  have  so  many  women  about  ? I should 
think  they  would  be  jealous  of  each  other.” 

“ Ah,”  said  he,  with  a wave  of  his  hand  and  a 
shake  of  his  head,  “ that  is  a topic  that  is  diffi- 
cult to  discuss.  Naturally  if  this  woman  sees 
him  taking  to  that  woman,  this  one  is  going  to 
eat  vinegar.” 

They  do  “ eat  vinegar,”  but  perhaps  as  little 
of  it  as  any  people  who  live  in  the  way  in  which 
they  live,  for  the  Chinese  have  organized  their 
home  life  as  nearly  on  a governmental  basis 
as  any  people  in  the  world. 

In  addition  to  the  wife  and  concubines,  each 


250 


Court  Life  in  China 


son  when  he  marries  brings  his  wife  home  to  a 
parental  court,  and  all  these  sisters-in-law,  or 
daughters-in-law  add  so  much  to  the  complica- 
tions of  living,  for  each  must  have  her  own  ret- 
inue of  servants. 

Young  people  in  China  are  all  engaged  by 
their  parents  without  their  knowledge  or  con- 
sent. This  was  very  unsatisfactory  to  the  young 
people  of  the  old  regime,  and  it  is  being  modi- 
fied in  the  new.  One  day  one  of  my  students  in 
discussing  this  matter  said  to  me : 

“ Our  method  of  getting  a wife  is  very  much 
better  than  either  the  old  Chinese  method  or 
your  foreign  method.” 

“ How  is  that?  ” I asked. 

” Well,”  said  he,  “ according  to  the  old  Chi- 
nese custom  a man  could  never  see  his  wife  un- 
til she  was  brought  to  his  house.  But  we  can 
see  the  girls  in  public  meetings,  we  have  sisters 
in  the  girls’  school,  they  have  brothers  in  the  col- 
lege, and  when  we  go  home  during  vacation  we 
can  learn  all  about  each  other.” 

“ But  how  do  you  consider  it  better  than  our 
method?”  I persisted. 

“ Why,  you  see,  when  you  have  found  the  girl 
you  want,  you  have  to  go  and  get  her  yourself, 
while  we  can  send  a middleman  to  do  it  for  us.” 

I still  argued  that  by  our  method  we  could  be- 
come better  acquainted  with  the  young  lady. 

“Yes,”  he  said,  “that  is  true;  but  doesn’t  it 


Social  Life  of  the  Chinese  Woman  251 

make  you  awfully  mad  if  you  ask  a lady  to 
marry  you  and  she  refuses?”  and  it  must  be 
confessed  that  this  was  a difficult  question  to 
answer  without  compromising  one’s  self. 

The  rigour  of  the  old  regime  was  apparently 
modified  by  giving  the  young  lady  a chance  to 
refuse.  About  ten  days  before  the  marriage,  two 
ladies  are  selected  by  the  mother  of  the  young 
man  to  carry  a peculiar  ornament  made  of  ebony 
and  jade,  or  jade  alone,  or  red  lacquer,  to  the 
home  of  the  prospective  bride.  This  ornament 
is  called  the  ju  yi,  which  means  “ According  to 
my  wishes.”  If  the  lady  receives  it  into  her  own 
hands  it  signifies  her  willingness  to  become  his 
bride ; if  she  rejects  it,  the  negotiations  are  at  an 
end,  though  I have  never  heard  of  a girl  who  re- 
fused the  ju  yi} 

Very  erroneous  ideas  of  the  life  and  occupa- 
tions of  the  Chinese  ladies  of  the  noble  and 
official  classes  are  held  by  those  not  conversant 
with  their  home  life.  The  Chinese  woman  is 
commonly  regarded  as  little  better  than  a se- 
cluded slave,  who  whiles  away  the  tedious  hours 
at  an  embroidery  frame,  where  with  her  needle 
she  works  those  delicate  and  intricate  pieces  of 
embroidery  for  which  she  is  famous  throughout 
the  world.  In  reality,  a Chinese  lady  has  little 
time  to  give  to  such  work.  Her  life  is  full  of 
the  most  exacting  social  duties.  Few  American 

* The  remainder  of  the  chapter  is  from  Mrs.  Headland’s  note-book. 


252 


Court  Life  in  China 


ladies  in  the  whirl  of  society  in  Washington  or 
New  York  have  more  social  functions  to  attend 
or  duties  to  perform.  I have  often  been  present 
in  the  evening  when  the  head  eunuch  brought  to 
the  ruling  lady  of  the  home  (and  the  head  of  the 
home  in  China  is  the  woman,  not  the  man)  an 
ebony  tablet  on  which  was  written  in  red  ink  the 
list  of  social  functions  the  ladies  were  to  attend 
the  following  day. 

She  would  select  from  the  list  such  as  she  and 
her  unmarried  daughters  could  attend, — the 
daughters  always  going  with  their  mother  and  not 
with  their  sisters-in-law, — then  she  would  appor- 
tion the  other  engagements  to  her  daughters-in- 
law,  who  would  attend  them  in  her  stead. 

The  Chinese  lady  in  Peking  sleeps  upon  a brick 
bed,  one  half  of  the  room  being  built  up  a foot  and 
a half  above  the  floor,  with  flues  running  through 
it ; and  in  the  winter  a fire  is  built  under  the  bed, 
so  that,  instead  of  having  one  hot  brick  in  her 
bed,  she  has  a hundred.  She  rises  about  eight. 
She  has  a large  number  of  women  servants,  a 
few  slave  girls,  and  if  she  belongs  to  the  family 
of  a prince,  she  has  several  eunuchs,  these  latter 
to  do  the  heavy  work  about  the  household. 
Each  servant  has  her  own  special  duties,  and 
resents  being  asked  to  perform  those  of  another. 
When  my  lady  awakes  a servant  brings  her  a 
cup  of  hot  tea  and  a cake  made  of  wheat  or  rice 
flour.  After  eating  this  a slave  girl  presents  her 


Social  Life  of  the  Chinese  Woman  253 

with  a tiny  pipe  with  a long  stem  from  which  she 
takes  a few  whiffs.  Two  servants  then  appear 
with  a large  polished  brass  basin  of  very  hot 
water,  towels,  soaps,  preparations  of  honey  to  be 
used  on  her  face  and  hands  while  they  are  still 
warm  and  moist  from  the  bathing.  After  the 
bath  they  remove  the  things  and  disappear,  and 
two  other  women  take  their  places,  with  a tray 
on  which  are  combs,  brushes,  hair-pomades,  and 
the  framework  and  accessories  needed  for 
combing  her  hair.  Then  begins  a long  and 
tedious  operation  that  may  continue  for  two  hours. 
Finally  the  hair  is  ready  for  the  ornaments, 
jewels  and  flowers  which  are  brought  by  another 
servant  on  a large  tray.  The  mistress  selects  the 
ones  she  wishes,  placing  them  in  her  hair  with 
her  own  hands. 

Some  of  these  flowers  are  exquisite.  The 
Chinese  are  expert  at  making  artificial  flowers 
which  are  true  to  nature  in  every  detail.  Often 
above  the  flower  a beautiful  butterfly  is  poised 
on  a delicate  spring,  and  looks  so  natural  that  it 
is  easy  to  be  deceived  into  believing  it  to  be 
alive.  When  the  jasmine  is  in  bloom  beautiful 
creations  are  made  of  these  tiny  flowers  by 
means  of  standards  from  which  protrude  fine 
wires  on  which  the  flowers  are  strung  in  the 
shape  of  butterflies  or  other  symbols,  and  the 
flowers  massed  in  this  way  make  a very  effective 
ornament.  With  the  exception  of  the  jasmine 


254 


Court  Life  in  China 


the  flowers  used  in  the  hair  are  all  artificial, 
though  natural  flowers  are  worn  in  season — 
roses  in  summer,  orchids  in  late  summer,  and 
chrysanthemums  in  autumn. 

The  prevailing  idea  with  the  Chinese  ladies  is 
that  the  foreign  woman  does  not  comb  her  hair. 
I have  often  heard  my  friends  apologizing  to 
ladies  whom  they  have  brought  to  see  me  for  the 
first  time,  and  on  whom  they  wanted  me  to 
make  a good  impression,  by  saying : 

“ You  must  not  mind  her  hair ; she  is  really  so 
busy  she  has  no  time  to  comb  it.  All  her  time  is 
spent  in  acts  of  benevolence.” 

At  the  first  audience  when  the  Empress 
Dowager  received  the  foreign  ladies,  she  pre- 
sented each  of  them  with  two  boxes  of  combs,  one 
ivory  inlaid  with  gold,  the  other  ordinary  hard 
wood,  and  the  set  was  complete  even  to  the  fine 
comb.  One  cannot  but  wonder  if  Her  Majesty 
■ had  not  heard  of  the  untidy  locks  of  the  foreign 
woman,  which  she  attributed  to  a lack  of  proper 
combs. 

After  the  hair  has  been  properly  combed  and 
ornamented,  cosmetics  of  white  and  carmine  are 
brought  for  the  face  and  neck.  The  Manchu 
lady  uses  these  in  great  profusion,  her  Chinese 
sister  more  sparingly.  No  Chinese  lady,  unless 
a widow  or  a woman  past  sixty,  is  supposed  to 
appear  in  the  presence  of  her  family  without  a 
full  coating  of  powder  and  paint.  A lady  one 


r 


MRS.  HEADLAND  AND  FRIENDS  VISITING  AT  THE  HOME  OF  DUKE  JUNG 


Social  Life  of  the  Chinese  Woman  255 

day  complained  to  me  of  difficulty  in  lifting  her 
eyelids,  and  consulted  me  as  to  the  reason. 

“ Perhaps,”  said  I,  “ they  are  partially  paralyzed 
by  the  lead  in  your  cosmetics.  Wash  off  the 
paint  and  see  if  the  nerves  do  not  recover  their 
tone.” 

“ But,”  said  she,  “ I would  not  dare  appear  in 
the  presence  of  my  husband  or  family  without 
paint  and  powder  ; it  would  not  be  respectable.” 

The  final  touch  to  the  face  is  the  deep  carmine 
spot  on  the  lower  lip. 

The  robing  then  begins.  And  what  beautiful 
robes  they  are ! the  softest  silks,  over  which  are 
worn  in  summer  the  most  delicate  of  embroidered 
grenadines,  or  in  winter,  rich  satins  lined  with  costly 
furs,  each  season  calling  for  a certain  number  and 
kind.  She  then  decorates  herself  with  her  jewels, 
— earrings,  bracelets,  beads,  rings,  charms,  em- 
broidered bags  holding  the  betel-nut,  and  the 
tiny  mirror  in  its  embroidered  case  with  silk  tas- 
sels. When  these  are  hung  on  the  buttons  of 
her  dress  her  outfit  is  complete,  and  she  arises 
from  her  couch  a wonderful  creation,  from  her 
glossy  head,  with  every  hair  in  place,  to  the  toe 
of  her  tiny  embroidered  slipper.  But  it  has 
taken  the  time  of  a half-dozen  servants  for  three 
hours  to  get  these  results. 

To  one  accustomed  to  the  Chinese  or  Manchu 
mode  of  dress,  she  appears  very  beautiful.  The 
rich  array  of  colours,  the  embroidered  gowns,  and 


256  Court  Life  in  China 

the  bright  head-dress,  make  a striking  picture. 
Often  as  the  ladies  of  a home  or  palace  came  out  on 
the  veranda  to  greet  me,  or  bid  me  adieu,  I have 
been  impressed  with  their  wonderful  beauty,  to 
which  our  own  dull  colours,  and  cloth  goods, 
suffer  greatly  in  comparison,  and  I could  not 
blame  these  good  ladies  for  looking  upon  our 
toilets  with  more  or  less  disdain. 

It  is  now  after  eleven  o’clock  and  her  breakfast 
is  ready  to  be  served  in  another  room.  Word 
that  the  leading  lady  of  the  household  is  about  to 
appear  is  sent  to  the  other  apartments.  Hurried 
finishing  touches  are  given  to  toilets,  for  all 
daughters,  daughters-in-law  and  grandchildren 
must  be  ready  to  receive  her  in  the  outer  room 
when  she  appears  leaning  on  the  arms  of  two 
eunuchs  if  she  is  a princess,  or  on  two  stout 
serving  women  if  a Chinese. 

According  to  her  rank,  each  one  in  turn 
takes  a step  towards  her  and  gives  a low  courtesy 
in  which  the  left  knee  touches  the  floor.  Even 
the  children  go  through  this  same  formality. 
All  are  gaily  dressed,  with  hair  bedecked  and 
faces  painted  like  her  own.  She  inclines  her 
head  but  slightly.  These  are  the  members  of 
her  household  over  whom  she  has  sway — her 
little  realm.  While  her  mother-in-law  lived  she 
was  under  the  same  rigorous  rule. 

In  China  where  there  are  so  many  women  in 
the  home  it  is  necessary  to  have  a head — one 


Social  Life  of  the  Chinese  Woman  257 

who  without  dispute  rules  with  autocratic  sway. 
This  is  the  mother-in-law.  When  she  dies  the 
first  wife  takes  her  place  as  head  of  the  family. 
A concubine  may  be  the  favourite  of  the  hus- 
band. He  may  give  her  fine  apartments  to 
live  in,  many  servants  to  wait  on  her,  and 
every  luxury  he  can  afford ; but  there  his 
power  ends.  The  first  wife  is  head  of  the 
household,  is  legally  mother  of  all  the  children 
born  to  any  or  all  of  the  concubines  her  hus- 
band possesses.  The  children  all  call  her  mother, 
and  the  inferior  wives  recognize  her  as  their  mis- 
tress. She  and  her  daughters,  and  daughters-in- 
law,  attend  social  functions,  receive  friends,  ex- 
tend hospitality ; but  the  concubines  have  no 
place  in  this,  unless  by  her  permission.  When 
the  time  comes  for  selecting  wives  for  her  sons,  it 
is  the  first  wife  who  does  it,  although  she  maybe 
childless  herself.  It  is  to  her  the  brides  of  these 
sons  are  brought,  and  to  her  all  deference  is  due. 
In  rare  cases,  where  the  concubine  has  had  the 
good  fortune  to  supply  the  heir  to  the  throne  or 
to  a princely  family,  she  is  raised  to  the  position 
of  empress  or  princess.  But  this  is  seldom  done, 
and  is  usually  remembered  against  the  woman. 
She  is  never  received  with  the  same  feeling  as  if 
she  had  been  first  wife. 

One  day  I was  asked  to  go  to  a palace  to  see 
a concubine  who  was  ill.  In  such  cases  I always 
went  directly  to  the  Princess,  and  she  took  me  to 


Court  Life  in  China 


258 

see  the  sick  one.  As  we  entered  the  room  there 
was  a nurse  standing  with  a child  in  her  arms, 
and  the  Princess  called  my  attention  to  a blemish 
on  its  face. 

“ Can  it  be  removed  ? ” she  asked. 

I looked  at  it  and,  seeing  that  it  would  require 
but  a minor  operation,  told  her  it  could. 

While  attending  to  the  patient,  the  nurse,  fear- 
ing that  the  child  would  be  hurt,  left  the  room 
and  another  entered  with  another  child. 

“ Now,”  said  the  Piincess  when  we  had  finished 
with  the  patient,  “ we  will  attend  to  the  child.” 
And  she  called  the  woman  to  her. 

“ But,”  said  the  woman,  “ this  is  not  the  child.” 

“ There,”  said  the  Princess,  “ you  see  I do  not 
know  my  own  children.” 

But  I left  our  friend  receiving  the  morning 
salutations  of  her  household.  These  over,  she 
dismisses  them  to  their  own  apartments,  where 
each  mother  sits  down  with  her  own  children 
to  her  morning  meal,  waited  on  by  her  own 
servants.  If  there  are  still  unmarried  daughters, 
they  remain  with  their  mother  ; if  none,  she  eats 
alone. 

Since  Peking  is  in  the  same  latitude  as  Phila- 
delphia my  lady  has  the  same  kinds  of  fruit — 
apples,  peaches,  pears,  apricots,  the  most  de- 
licious grapes,  and  persimmons  as  large  as  the 
biggest  tomato  you  ever  saw ; indeed,  the  Chi- 
nese call  the  tomato  the  western  red  persimmon. 


Social  Life  of  the  Chinese  Woman  259 

She  has  mutton  from  the  Mongolian  sheep  (the 
hnest  I have  ever  eaten),  beef,  pork  or  lamb ; 
chicken,  goose  or  duck  ; hare,  pheasant  or  deer, 
or  fish  of  whatever  kind  she  may  choose.  Of 
course  these  are  all  prepared  after  the  Chinese 
style,  and  be  it  said  to  the  credit  of  their  cooks 
that  our  children  are  always  ready  to  leave  our 
ovn  table  to  partake  of  Chinese  food. 

After  her  meal  she  lingers  for  a few  minutes 
over  her  cup  of  tea  and  her  pipe.  In  the  mean- 
time her  cart  or  sedan  chair  is  prepared.  Her 
outriders  are  ready  with  their  horses ; the 
eunuchs,  women  and  slave  girls  who  are  to  at- 
tend her,  don  their  proper  clothing  and  prepare 
the  changes  of  raiment  needed  for  the  various 
functions  of  the  day.  One  takes  a basin  and 
towels,  another  powder  and  rouge-boxes,  another 
the  pipe  and  embroidered  tobacco  pouch,  not 
even  forgetting  the  silver  cuspidor,  all  of  which 
will  be  needed.  When  she  eats,  a servant  gives 
her  a napkin  to  spread  over  her  gown  ; after  she 
has  finished,  another  brings  a basin  of  hot  water, 
from  which  a towel  is  wrung  with  which  she  gently 
wipes  her  mouth  and  hands.  Another  brings 
her  a glass  of  water,  or  she  washes  out  her  mouth 
with  tea,  and  finally  with  the  little  mirror  and 
rouge-box,  while  she  still  sits  at  table,  she  touches 
up  her  face  with  powder  and  she  puts  the  paint 
upon  her  lip  if  it  has  disappeared. 

When  ready  to  start,  her  cart  or  chair  is  drawn 


26o 


Court  Life  in  China 


up  as  close  as  possible  to  the  gate  of  the  women’s 
apartments.  A screen  of  blue  silk  eighteen  or 
twenty  feet  long  and  six  feet  high,  fastened  to 
two  wooden  standards,  is  held  by  eunuchs  to 
screen  her  while  she  enters  the  cart.  The  chair 
can  be  used  only  by  princesses  or  wives  of 
viceroys  or  members  of  the  Grand  Council.  But 
whether  chair  or  cart  it  is  lined  and  cushioned 
with  scarlet  satin  in  summer,  and  in  winter  with 
fur.  It  is  an  accomplishment  to  enter  a cart 
gracefully,  but  years  of  practice  enable  her  to  do 
so,  and  as  soon  as  she  is  seated  in  Buddhist 
fashion,  the  curtain  is  dropped  ; her  attendant 
seats  herself  cross-legged  in  front ; several  male 
servants  rush  up,  seize  the  shafts  of  the  cart, 
place  the  mule  between  them,  fasten  the  buckles 
(it  reminds  one  of  the  fire  department),  the  driver 
takes  his  place  at  the  lines,  two  other  male  serv- 
ants take  hold  of  the  sides  of  the  mule’s  bridle, 
and  all  is  in  readiness  to  start.  Female  servants 
and  slave  girls  crowd  into  other  carts,  outriders 
mount  their  mules,  and  the  cavalcade  starts  with 
my  lady’s  cart  ahead. 

As  they  pass  along  the  streets  they  are  re- 
marked upon  by  all  foot-passengers,  and  as  they 
near  their  destination,  a courier  on  horseback 
spurs  up  his  steed,  makes  a wild  dash  forward, 
leaps  from  his  horse,  and  announces  to  the  gate- 
keeper that  the  Princess  will  soon  arrive.  The 
news  is  at  once  taken  to  the  servants  of  the 


Social  Life  of  the  Chinese  Woman  261 

women’s  apartments,  where  the  name  is  given  to 
a eunuch,  who  bears  it  to  his  mistress. 

In  the  meantime  the  party  has  arrived.  The 
mule  is  unhitched,  cart  drawn  to  the  gate,  screen 
spread,  servant  descends  from  front,  and  the 
Princess  with  the  help  of  a couple  of  eunuchs  is 
escorted  through  a long  covered  walk  into  the 
court,  where  the  ladies  of  the  household  are 
waiting  on  the  veranda  to  receive  her.  As  she 
enters  the  gateway  the  hostess  begins  slowly  to 
descend  the  steps.  The  others  follow,  and  they 
meet  in  the  centre  of  the  court.  Low  courtesies 
are  made  by  each  and  formal  inquiries  as  to  each 
other’s  health.  There  is  a short  stop  and  certain 
formalities  before  the  guest  will  ascend  the  steps 
ahead  of  the  hostess.  The  same  occurs  again 
on  entering  the  reception  hall,  and  taking  the 
seat  of  honour.  The  luckless  foreigner  sometimes 
makes  the  mistake  of  conceding  to  her  guest’s 
modesty  and  allows  her  to  take  a lower  seat, 
which  is  a grievous  offense,  and  she  is  only  par- 
doned on  the  plea  that  she  is  an  outside  bar- 
barian, and  does  not  understand  the  rules  of 
polite  society. 

After  she  is  seated  tea  is  served,  and  servants 
bring  in  trays  of  sweetmeats,  fruit,  nuts,  dried 
melon  seeds,  candied  fruits  and  small  cakes. 
One  of  these  nuts  is  unique.  It  is  an  “ English 
walnut  ” in  which,  after  the  outer  hull  is  removed, 
the  shell  is  self-cracked,  and  folds  back  in  places 


262 


Court  Life  in  China 


so  that  the  kernel  appears.  While  partaking  of 
these  delicacies  the  object  of  the  visit  is  an- 
nounced, which  is  that  her  son  is  to  be  married 
on  a certain  date.  Of  course  official  announce- 
ments will  be  sent  later,  but  she  wishes  to  ask  if 
her  hostess  will  act  as  one  of  her  representatives 
to  carry  the  ju  yi  to  the  young  lady’s  home. 

After  the  ladies  have  chatted  for  a time  about 
the  latest  official  appointments,  some  court  gos- 
sip, the  latest  fashion  in  robe  ornamentation,  and 
the  newspaper  news  at  home  and  abroad — for  the 
Chinese  have  ten  or  a dozen  newspapers  in 
Peking,  among  which  is  the  first  woman’s  daily 
in  the  w'orld — the  hostess  invites  her  guest  to  see 
her  garden.  They  pass  through  a gateway  into 
a court  in  which  are  great  trees,  shrubbery,  fish- 
ponds spanned  by  marble  bridges,  covered 
walks,  beautiful  rockeries,  wistaria  vines  laden 
with  long  clusters  of  blossoms,  summer-houses, 
miniature  mountains,  and  flowers  of  all  kinds — a 
dream  of  beauty  and  loveliness.  After  returning 
to  the  house  another  cup  of  tea  is  served,  and  the 
guest  rises  to  leave.  But  before  doing  so  her 
servants  bring  in  a bundle  of  clothing,  and  there 
in  the  presence  of  her  hostess  her  outer  robes  are 
changed  for  others  of  a more  official  character. 

Her  next  call  is  at  the  birthday  celebration  of 
the  mother  of  one  of  the  highest  officials  in  the 
capital.  I was  present  when  she  arrived.  In- 
stead of  entering  by  the  front  gate,  she  went  by  a 


Social  Life  of  the  Chinese  Woman  263 

private  entrance  directly  to  the  apartments  of  her 
hostess.  Many  guests  (all  gentlemen)  were  as- 
sembled in  the  front  court,  which  was  covered  by 
a mat  pavilion  and  converted  into  a theatre. 
The  court  was  several  feet  lower  than  the  adjoin- 
ing house,  the  front  windows  of  which  were  all  re- 
moved and  it  was  used  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  lady  guests.  On  the  walls  of  the  temporary 
structure  hung  red  satin  and  silk  banners  on 
which  were  pinned  ideographs  cut  out  of  gold 
foil  or  black  velvet,  expressive  of  beautiful  senti- 
ments and  good  wishes  for  many  happy  returns 
of  the  day.  The  Emperor,  wishing  to  do  this  offi- 
cial honour,  has  informed  him  that  on  his  mother’s 
birthday  an  imperial  present  will  be  sent  her 
which  is  a greater  compliment  than  if  sent  to  the 
official  himself. 

It  was  a gala  scene.  Fresh  guests  arrived 
every  minute.  The  ladies  in  their  most  graceful 
and  dignified  courtesies  were  constantly  bending 
as  other  guests  were  announced,  while  the  gentle- 
men, with  low  bows  and  each  shaking  his  own 
hands,  received  their  friends.  The  clothes  of  the 
men,  though  of  a more  sombre  hue,  were  richer 
in  texture  than  those  of  the  women.  Heavy 
silks  and  satins,  embroidered  with  dragons  in 
gold  thread,  indicated  that  this  one  was  a mem- 
ber of  the  imperial  clan,  while  others  equally  rich 
were  worn  by  the  other  gentlemen,  each  em- 
broidered with  the  insignia  of  his  rank.  Hats 


264  Court  Life  in  China 

adorned  with  red  tassels,  peacock  feathers  in  jade 
holders,  and  the  button  denoting  the  rank  of  the 
wearer,  were  worn  by  all,  as  it  would  be  a breach 
of  etiquette  to  remove  the  hat  in  the  presence  of 
one’s  host. 

It  would  also  be  bad  form  for  the  gentlemen  to 
raise  their  eyes  to  where  the  ladies  were  seated  ; 
just  as  the  latter,  who  must  look  over  the  heads 
of  the  men  to  view  the  theatre,  would  not  be 
caught  allowing  their  eyes  to  dwell  upon  any 
one.  But  no  doubt  these  gentle  little  ladies  have 
their  own  curiosity,  and  some  means  of  finding 
out  who’s  who  among  that  court  full  of  dragon- 
draped  pillars  of  state  ; for  I have  never  failed  to 
receive  a ready  answer  when  I inquired  as  to  the 
name  of  some  handsome  or  distinguished-look- 
ing guest  whose  identity  I wished  to  learn. 

The  theatre  goes  on  interminably.  Like  my 
lady,  they  change  their  clothes,  and  the  scenery, 
in  full  view  of  the  audience.  The  plays  are 
mostly  historical,  the  women’s  parts  being  taken 
by  men,  as  women  are  not  allowed  to  go  on  the 
stage.  One  daring  company,  in  imitation  of  the 
foreign  custom,  had  a woman  take  one  of  the 
parts  ; but  a special  order  from  the  viceroy  put 
the  company  out  of  commission,  and  the  leader 
in  prison. 

The  guests  were  not  expected  to  sit  quietly 
watching  the  play,  but  moved  about  greeting 
each  other  and  chatting  at  will.  Servants 


Social  Life  of  the  Chinese  Woman  265 

brought  tea  and  sweetmeats  and  finally  a ban- 
quet was  served.  Near  the  close  of  the  feast  it 
was  announced  that  the  imperial  present  was 
coming,  and  the  members  of  the  household  dis- 
appeared. The  deep  boom  of  the  drums  and  the 
honk  of  the  great  horns  were  heard  distinctly  as 
they  entered  the  street,  and  soon  the  yellow 
imperial  chair,  with  its  thirty-six  bearers  in  the 
royal  livery,  moved  slowly  towards  us  between 
two  rows  of  the  male  members  of  the  household 
who  had  gone  out  and  were  kneeling  on  both 
sides  of  the  street,  knocking  their  heads  as  the 
chair  passed  them.  The  great  gates  were  thrown 
open  and  there  in  the  gateway  the  female  mem- 
bers of  the  family  knelt  and  kotowed  as  the 
chair  passed  by. 

The  presents  were  taken  into  a room  specially 
prepared  for  their  reception.  The  head  imperial 
eunuch  placed  them  in  position,  and,  with  a low 
obeisance,  departed,  the  richer  by  several  hun- 
dred ounces  of  silver.  The  gentlemen  guests 
were  first  invited  to  view  these  tokens  of  imperial 
favour.  In  order  of  their  rank  they  entered, 
prostrating  themselves  before  them.  Later  we 
ladies  were  invited  into  the  room,  where  the 
Chinese  all  kotowed.  What  now  were  these 
wonderful  gifts  before  which  these  men  and 
women  of  rank  and  noble  birth  were  falling  upon 
their  faces  ? 

They  were  two  squares  of  red  paper,  eighteen 


266 


Court  Life  in  China 


inches  across,  printed  in  outline  of  the  imperial 
dragon,  on  which  the  characters  for  long  life  and 
happiness  were  written  with  the  imperial  pen  ; and 
a small  yellow  satin  box  in  which  sat  a little  gold 
Buddha  not  more  than  an  inch  in  height  1 It 
was  the  thought,  not  the  value,  which  elicited  all 
this  appreciation. 

Shall  we  go  with  this  busy  little  princess  to  an- 
other festal  occasion  ? I was  with  her  again. 
It  was  at  the  home  of  the  sister  of  one  of  the 
sweetest  little  princesses  in  the  whole  empire. 
Her  baby  was  a month  old  and  she  was  celebra- 
ting what  they  call  the  full  month  feast.  Instead, 
however,  of  having  the  usual  feasting  and  theat- 
ricals, the  mother,  who,  for  days  after  her  child 
was  born,  lay  at  death’s  door,  sent  out  invita- 
tions to  her  friends  to  come  and  fast  and  give 
thanks  to  the  gods  for  sparing  her  life. 

Though  the  child  was  a month  old  the  mother 
was  too  wan  and  weak  to  leave  her  couch.  She 
was  dressed,  however,  in  festal  robes,  and  re- 
ceived her  guests  with  many  gracious  words  and 
apologies.  Of  course  only  ladies  were  present. 
The  great  covered  court  was  converted  into  a 
large  shrine.  One  could  imagine  they  were 
looking  into  the  main  hall  of  a temple,  only  that 
everything  was  so  clean  and  beautiful.  From 
the  centre  of  the  shrine  a Goddess  of  Mercy 
looked  down  complacently  upon  the  array  of 
fruit,  nuts,  sweetmeats  and  cakes  spread  out  be- 


Social  Life  of  the  Chinese  Woman  267 

fore  her.  Many  candles  in  their  tall  candlesticks 
were  burning  on  every  side.  Before  her  was  a 
great  bronze  incense-burner,  from  which  many 
sticks  of  incense  sent  out  their  fragrant  odour  on 
the  air.  As  each  guest  passed  through  the  court, 
she  took  a stick  from  the  pile,  lit  it,  and,  with  a 
word  of  prayer,  added  it  to  the  number. 

After  the  guests  had  all  arrived  a princess — 
sister  of  the  hostess — accompanied  by  two  of  the 
leading  guests,  descended  into  the  paved  court 
and  took  her  place  before  the  altar.  Deep-toned 
bells  were  touched  by  small  boys  whose  shaven 
heads  and  priestly  robes  denoted  that  they,  like 
little  Samuel,  were  being  brought  up  within  the 
courts  of  the  temple.  The  Princess  took  a great 
bunch  of  incense  in  her  two  hands,  one  of  her 
attendants  lit  it  with  a torch  prepared  for  that 
purpose,  the  flame  and  smoke  ascended  amid  the 
deep  tones  of  the  bells,  as  she  prostrated  herself 
before  the  goddess.  She  looked  like  a beautiful 
fairy  herself  as  she  stood  with  the  flaming  bunch 
of  incense  held  high  above  her  head.  Three 
times  she  prostrated  herself  and  nine  times  she 
bent  forward,  fulfilling  all  the  requirements  of  the 
law. 

At  the  close  of  this  ceremony  the  ladies  were 
invited  to  partake  of  a feast  prepared  wholly  of 
vegetables  and  vegetable  oils.  It  requires  much 
more  skill  to  prepare  such  a feast  than  when 
meat  and  animal  oils  are  used.  The  food  fur- 


268 


Court  Life  in  China 


nished  interesting  topics  for  discussion.  Most 
of  it  was  prepared  by  various  temples,  each  be- 
ing celebrated  for  some  particular  dish,  which  it 
was  asked  to  provide  for  the  occasion. 

It  is  not  uncommon  for  a Chinese  lady  to  take 
upon  herself  a vow  in  which  she  promises  the 
gods  to  observe  certain  days  of  each  month  as 
fast  days,  on  condition  that  they  restore  to  health 
a mother,  father,  husband  or  child.  No  matter 
what  banquet  she  attends  she  need  only  mention 
to  her  hostess  that  she  has  a vow  and  she  is 
made  the  chief  guest,  helping  others  but  eating 
nothing  herself.  After  this  full  month  feast  the 
baby  was  seen,  its  presents  admired,  the  last  cup 
of  tea  drunk,  the  farewells  said,  and  we  all  re- 
turned home. 


XVII 


The  Chinese  Ladies — Their  Ills 


My  home  is  girdled  by  a limpid  stream, 

And  there  in  summer  days  life’s  movements  pause, 
Save  where  some  swallow  flits  from  beam  to  beam. 
And  the  wild  sea-gull  near  and  nearer  draws. 

The  good  wife  rules  a paper  board  for  chess  j 
The  children  beat  a fish-hook  out  of  wire  ; 

My  ailments  call  for  physic  more  or  less. 

What  else  should  this  poor  frame  of  mine  require  ? 
“ Tu  Fu,”  Tratislated  by  Herbert  A.  Giles. 


XVII 


THE  CHINESE  LADIES— THEIR  ILLS  ^ 

ONE  day  a eunuch  dashed  into  the  back 
gate  of  our  compound  in  Peking,  rode 
up  to  the  door  of  the  library,  dismounted 
from  his  horse,  and  handed  a letter  in  a red  en- 
velope to  the  house  servant  who  met  him  on  the 
steps. 

“ What  is  the  matter?”  asked  the  boy. 

“The  Princess  is  ill,”  replied  the  servant. 

“ What  Princess  ? ” further  inquired  the  boy. 

“ Our  Princess,”  was  the  reply. 

“ Oh,  you  are  from  the  palace  near  the  west 
gate  ? ” 

“ Yes,”  and  the  boy  and  the  servant  continued 
their  conversation  until  the  former  had  learned 
all  that  the  letter  contained,  whereupon  he  brought 
me  the  message. 

I opened  the  letter,  written  in  the  Chinese 
ideographs,  and  called  the  messenger  in. 

“ Is  the  Princess  very  ill  ? ” I inquired. 

“Not  very,”  he  answered,  “ but  she  has  been 
indisposed  for  several  days.” 

“When  does  she  want  me  to  go  ? ” I inquired, 

1 Taken  from  Mrs.  Headland’s  note-book. 

271 


272 


Court  Life  in  China 


for  I had  long  ago  learned  that  a few  inquiries 
often  brought  out  interesting  and  valuable  in- 
formation. 

“ At  once,”  he  answered  ; “ the  cart  will  be  here 
in  a few  minutes.” 

By  the  time  I had  made  ready  my  medical 
outfit  the  cart  had  arrived.  It  was  very  much 
like  a great  Saratoga  trunk  on  two  wheels.  It 
was  without  seat  and  without  springs,  but  filled 
with  thick  cushions,  and  as  I had  learned  to  sit 
tailor  fashion  it  was  not  entirely  uncomfortable 
to  ride  in.  It  had  gauze  curtains  in  summer, 
and  was  lined  with  quilted  silk  or  fur  in  winter, 
and  was  a comfortable  conveyance. 

When  I reached  the  palace  I was  met  by  the 
head  eunuch,  who  conducted  me  at  once  to  the 
apartments  of  the  Princess.  Her  reception 
room  was  handsomely  furnished  with  rich,  carved, 
teak-wood  furniture  after  the  Manchu  fashion, 
with  one  or  two  large,  comfortable,  leather- 
covered  easy  chairs  of  foreign  make.  Clocks 
sat  upon  the  tables  and  window-sills,  and  fine 
Swiss  watches  hung  on  the  walls.  Beautiful  jade 
and  other  rich  Chinese  ornaments  were  arranged 
in  a tasteful  way  about  the  room.  On  the  wall 
hung  a picture  painted  by  the  Empress  Dowager, 
a gift  to  the  Prince  on  his  birthday. 

After  a moment’s  waiting  the  Princess  ap- 
peared attended  by  her  women  and  slave  girls. 

“ I beg  your  pardon  for  not  having  my  hair 


The  Chinese  Ladies — Their  Ills  273 

properly  dressed,”  she  said,  as  she  took  my 
hands  in  hers,  the  custom  of  these  Manchu  prin- 
cesses and  even  the  Empress  Dowager  herself, 
in  greeting  foreign  ladies.  “ I welcome  you 
back  to  Peking  after  your  summer  vacation.” 

When  the  usual  salutations  had  been  passed 
she  told  me  her  trouble  and  I gave  her  the 
proper  medicine,  with  minute  instructions  as  to 
how  to  take  it,  which  I also  repeated  to  her 
women. 

“ The  cause  of  my  illness,”  she  explained,  “ is 
over-fatigue.  I had  to  be  present  at  court  on 
the  eighth  of  the  eighth  month  and  I became 
very  tired  from  standing  all  day.” 

“ But  could  you  not  sit  down  ? ” I asked. 

“ Not  in  the  presence  of  the  Empress  Dowager,” 
she  replied. 

“ Of  course,  I know  you  could  not  sit  down  in 
the  presence  of  Her  Majesty,  but  could  you  not 
withdraw  and  rest  a while?”  I inquired. 

“Not  that  day.  It  was  a busy  and  tiresome 
day  for  us  all,”  she  replied. 

While  we  were  talking  the  young  Princess, 
her  son’s  wife,  came  in  and  greeted  her  mother- 
in-law  in  a formal  but  kindly  way,  and  gave  her 
hands  to  me  just  as  the  Princess  had  done. 
She  remained  standing  all  the  time  she  was  in  the 
room,  as  did  four  of  the  secondary  princesses  or 
wives  of  her  husband.  They  were  all  beautifully 
dressed,  but  they  are  beneath  the  Princess  in 


274  Court  Life  in  China 

rank,  and  so  must  stand  in  her  presence.  If  the 
Prince’s  mother  had  come  in,  as  she  often  did 
when  I was  there,  the  Princess  would  have  to 
stand  and  wait  on  her.  All  Manchu  families  are 
very  particular  in  this  respect. 

“You  will  be  interested,”  said  the  Princess, 
“in  one  phase  of  our  visit  to  the  palace.”  Then 
turning  to  one  of  her  women  she  said  : “ Bring 
me  those  two  pairs  of  shoes.” 

“ These,”  she  explained,  “ are  like  some  made 
by  my  mother-in-law  and  myself  as  presents  for 
the  Empress  Dowager.  On  the  eighth  of  the 
eighth  month  we  have  a feast,  when  the  ladies  of 
the  royal  household  are  invited  into  the  palace, 
and  our  custom  is  for  each  of  us  to  present  Her 
Majesty  with  a pair  of  shoes.” 

The  shoes  were  daintily  embroidered,  though 
not  so  pretty  as  some  I have  seen  the  Empress 
Dowager  wear.  Some  of  her  shoes  are  decorated 
with  beautiful  pearls  and  others  are  covered  with 
precious  stones. 

“ The  Empress  Dowager,”  continued . the 
Princess,  “ is  very  vain  of  her  small  feet ; though,” 
she  continued,  as  she  put  her  own  foot  out,  en- 
cased in  the  daintiest  little  embroidered  slipper  of 
light-blue  satin,  “ it  is  not  so  small  as  my  own.” 

It  seemed  very  human  to  hear  this  delicate  lit- 
tle Princess  make  a remark  of  this  kind.  Of 
course,  both  she  and  the  Empress  Dowager  have 
natural  feet. 


THE  EMPRESS  DOWAGER 


: 


The  Chinese  Ladies — Their  Ills  275 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  some  months  after 
my  visit  to  the  Princess,  that  a very  different  call 
came  for  my  services. 

The  boy  came  in  and  told  me  that  a man 
wanted  me  to  go  to  see  his  wife,  who  lived  in  the 
southern  city  outside  the  Ha-ta  gate.  It  has  al- 
ways been  my  custom  never  to  refuse  any  one 
whether  they  be  rich  or  poor,  and  so  I told  him 
to  call  a cart. 

It  was  in  midwinter  and  a bitter  cold  night, 
the  room  was  without  fire  and  yet  there  was  a 
child  of  three  or  four  toddling  about  upon  the 
kang  or  brick  bed  whose  only  garment  was  a 
long  coat. 

“You  should  put  a pair  of  trousers  on  that 
child,”  I said,  “ or  it  will  catch  cold  and  I will 
soon  have  to  come  again.” 

“ Yes,”  they  said,  “ we  will  put  trousers  on  it.” 

“ You  had  better  do  it  at  once,”  I insisted. 

“Yes,”  they  continued,  “we  will  see  that  it  is 
dressed.” 

After  attending  to  the  woman,  and  again 
urging  them  to  dress  the  child,  I wrapped  my 
warm  cloak  around  me  and  started  home,  though 
I could  not  forget  the  child. 

“ It  is  a cold  night,”  I said  to  the  driver  as  we 
started  on  our  way. 

“ Yes,”  he  answered,  “ there  will  be  some  un- 
comfortable people  in  the  city  to-night.” 

“ In  that  house  we  just  left,”  I continued,  for  I 


Court  Life  in  China 


276 

could  not  banish  the  child  from  my  thoughts, 
“ there  was  a little  child  playing  on  the  bed  with- 
out a shred  of  trousers  on.” 

“ Quite  right,”  said  he ; “ they  pawned  the 
trousers  of  that  child  to  get  money  to  pay  me  for 
taking  you  to  see  the  sick  woman.” 

“ To  pay  you  ! ” said  I,  with  indignation,  and 
yet  with  admiration  for  the  character  of  the  peo- 
ple for  whom  I was  giving  my  services — “ to  pay 
you  1 Then  drive  right  back  and  give  them  their 
money  and  tell  them  to  go  and  redeem  those 
trousers  and  put  them  on  the  child  ! ” 

“ The  city  gate  will  be  closed  before  we  can 
reach  it  if  I return,”  said  he,  “ and  we  will  not  be 
able  to  get  in  to-night.” 

“No  matter  about  that,”  I insisted,  “ go  back 
and  give  them  the  money.” 

He  turned  around  with  many  mutterings,  lashed 
up  his  mule  at  the  top  of  his  speed,  gave  them  the 
money,  and  then  started  on  a gallop  for  the  city 
gate.  It  was  a rough  ride  in  that  springless  cart 
over  the  rutty  roads.  But  my  house  seemed 
warmer  that  night  and  my  bed  seemed  softer 
after  I had  paid  the  carter  myself. 

Among  my  friends  and  patients  none  are  more 
interesting  than  the  Misses  Hsii.  They  are  very 
intelligent,  and  after  I had  become  well  acquainted 
with  them  I said  to  them  one  day : 

“ How  is  it  that  you  have  done  such  wide  read- 
ing ? ” 


The  Chinese  Ladies — Their  Ills  277 

“You  know,  of  course,”  they  said,  “that  our 
father  is  a cJmang  yuan." 

I asked  them  the  meaning  of  a chuang  yuan. 
Then  I learned  that  under  the  Chinese  system  a 
great  many  students  enter  the  examinations,  and 
those  who  secure  their  degree  are  called  hsiu 
tsai ; a year  or  two  later  these  are  examined 
again,  and  those  who  pass  are  given  the  degree 
of  chu  jen  ; once  more  these  latter  are  examined 
and  the  successful  candidates  are  called  chin  shih, 
and  are  then  ready  for  official  position.  They 
continue  to  study,  however,  and  are  allowed  to 
go  into  the  palace,  where  they  are  examined  in 
the  presence  of  the  Emperor,  and  those  who  pass 
are  called  han  lin.,  or  forest  of  pencils.  Once  in 
three  years  these  han  lins  are  examined  and  one 
is  allowed  to  obtain  a degree — he  is  a chuang 
yuan. 

Out  of  four  hundred  million  people  but  one  is 
allowed  this  degree  once  in  three  years. 

“ Your  father  must  be  a very  great  scholar,”  I 
remarked. 

“ He  has  always  been  a diligent  student,”  they 
answered,  modestly. 

“What  is  his  given  name?”  I inquired,  one 
day. 

“ If  you  will  give  me  a pencil  I will  write  it  for 
you  ; we  never  speak  the  given  name  of  our 
father  in  China,”  said  the  eldest,  and  she  wrote  it 
down. 


Court  Life  in  China 


278 

“ How  many  sisters  are  there  in  your  family — 
eight,  are  there  not  ? ” 

“Yes.  You  know,  of  course,  that  number  five 
was  engaged  when  a child  of  six  to  the  son  of  Li 
Hung-chang.” 

“No,  I was  not  aware  of  the  fact ; and  were  they 
married?  ” 

“ No,  they  were  never  married.  The  young 
man  died  before  they  were  old  enough  to  wed. 
When  word  of  his  death  was  brought  to  her,  child 
that  she  was,  she  went  to  our  mother  and  told 
her  she  must  never  engage  her  to  any  one  else, 
as  she  meant  to  live  and  die  the  widow  of  this 
boy.” 

“ And  did  she  go  to  Li  Hung-chang’s  home?” 

“ No,  the  old  Viceroy  wanted  to  take  her  to  his 
home,  build  a suite  of  rooms  for  her,  and  treat  her 
as  his  daughter-in-law,  but  our  parents  objected 
because  she  was  so  young.  The  Viceroy  loved 
her  very  much,  and  his  eyes  often  filled  with  tears 
as  he  spoke  of  her  and  the  son  who  had  passed 
away.  When  the  Viceroy  died  she  wanted  to  go 
and  kotow  at  his  funeral,  and  all  his  family  ex- 
cept the  eldest  son  were  anxious  to  have  her  do 
so,  and  thus  be  recognized  as  one  of  the  family. 
But  this  son  objected,  and  though  Lady  Li 
knocked  her  head  on  the  coffin  until  it  bled  he 
would  not  yield,  lest  she  might  want  her  portion.” 

“ And  what  has  become  of  your  sister  ? How 
is  it  that  I have  never  seen  her  ? ” 


The  Chinese  Ladies — Their  Ills  279 

“ She  withdrew  to  a small  court,  where  she  has 
lived  with  none  but  her  women  servants,  not  even 
seeing  our  father  or  brothers,  and  not  allowing  a 
male  servant  to  go  near  her.  And  she  will  not 
permit  the  word  Li  to  be  spoken  in  her  presence.” 

“And  what  does  she  do?”  I asked.  “How 
does  she  employ  herself?” 

“ Studying,  reading,  painting,  and  embroidery. 
When  young  Li  refused  to  allow  her  to  attend 
his  father’s  funeral  her  sense  of  self-respect  was 
outraged  and  she  cut  off  her  hair  and  threatened 
to  commit  suicide.  She  often  fasts  for  a week, 
and  has  tried  on  several  occasions  to  take  her 
own  life.” 

I asked  them  if  they  did  not  fear  that  she 
might  succeed  finally  in  this  attempt  to  kill  her- 
self. 

“Yes,  we  have  constant  apprehensions.  But 
then,  what  if  she  did  ? It  would  only  emphasize 
her  virtue.” 

It  was  some  months  after  the  young  ladies  told 
me  what  I have  just  related  that  they  called,  for 
they  had  taken  up  the  study  of  English  and  I 
had  agreed  to  help  them  a bit. 

“ How  is  your  sister?  ” I inquired,  for  the  sad 
fate  of  this  young  girl  weighed  like  a burden  on 
my  heart. 

“ She  fasted  more  than  usual  during  the  early 
summer,  but  she  bathed  daily  and  changed  her 
clothes,  dressing  herself  in  her  most  beautiful  gar- 


28o 


Court  Life  in  China 


ments.  She  had  not  been  sleeping  well  for  some 
time,  and  one  day  she  ordered  her  women  to  leave 
her  and  not  return  until  they  were  called.  They 
remained  away  until  a married  sister  and  a sister- 
in-law — a niece  of  Li  Hung-chang — called  and 
wanted  to  see  her.  We  went  to  her  room  but 
found  it  locked.  We  knocked  but  received  no 
answer.  We  finally  punched  a hole  through  the 
paper  window  and  saw  her  sitting  on  her  brick 
bed,  her  head  bolstered  up  with  cushions  and  her 
eyes  closed.  We  supposed  she  was  sleeping, 
but  on  forcing  open  the  door  we  found  that  she 
had  gone  to  join  her  boy  husband,  though  her 
colour  and  appearance  was  that  of  a living  per- 
son.” 

“ And  are  you  sure  she  had  not  swooned  ? ” 

” She  remained  in  this  condition  for  twenty-two 
hours  without  pulse  or  heart  beat,  and  so  we  put 
her  in  her  casket.” 

I could  not  but  feel  sad  that  I had  not  been  in 
the  city,  and  had  had  an  opportunity  to  help 
them  to  ascertain  whether  her  life  had  really 
gone  out.  But  the  girls  seemed  proud  of  the 
distinction  of  having  had  a sister  of  such  con- 
summate virtue.  Numerous  embroidered  scrolls 
and  laudatory  inscriptions  were  sent  her  from 
friends  of  the  Li  family  as  well  as  of  their  own, 
and  it  is  expected  that  the  throne  will  order  a 
memorial  arch  erected  to  her  memory. 

On  another  occasion  I was  requested  to  go  to 


The  Chinese  Ladies — Their  Ills  281 


the  palace  of  one  of  the  princes.  The  fourth 
Princess,  a beautiful  little  child  of  five,  was  ill 
with  diphtheria,  and  the  first  greeting  of  the 
mother  as  I went  in  was  that  she  “ was  homesick 
to  see  me.”  The  child  had  been  ill  for  several 
days  before  they  sent  for  me,  and  I told  them  at 
once  that  the  case  was  dangerous.  I wanted  to 
do  all  I could  for  them  and  at  the  same  time  pro- 
tect my  own  children  from  the  danger  of  infec- 
tion. After  the  first  treatment  with  antitoxin  she 
seemed  to  rally,  her  throat  cleared  up,  but  I soon 
found  that  the  poison  had  pervaded  her  entire 
system,  and  so  I stayed  with  her  day  and  night. 

I found  that  the  child  had  contracted  the  dis- 
ease from  another  about  her  own  age,  who  was 
both  her  playmate  and  her  slave.  It  is  the  cus- 
tom among  the  wealthy  to  purchase  for  each 
daughter  a companion  who  plays  with  her  as  a 
child,  becomes  a companion  in  youth  and  her 
maid  when  she  marries.  These  slaves  are  usu- 
ally treated  well,  and  when  this  one  became  ill 
the  members  of  the  family  visited  her  often,  ta- 
king her  such  dainties  as  might  tempt  her  appe- 
tite. As  a result  I had  to  administer  antitoxin 
to  eight  of  the  younger  members  of  the  house- 
hold, so  careless  had  they  been  about  the  spread 
of  this  disease ; indeed  I have  found  that  the  iso- 
lation of  patients  suffering  from  contagious  dis- 
eases is  wholly  unknown  in  China. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  of  all  my  Chinese 


282 


Court  Life  in  China 


lady  friends  and  patients  is  the  niece  of  the  great 
Viceroy,  Li  Hung-chang,  the  daughter  of  his 
brother,  Li  Han-chang,  who  is  himself  a viceroy. 
I have  been  her  physician  for  eighteen  years  or 
more  and  hence  have  become  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  her.  She  has  visited  me  very 
often  in  my  home  and,  of  all  the  women  I have 
ever  known,  of  any  race  or  people,  I have  never 
met  one  whom  I thought  more  cultured  or  re- 
fined than  she.  This  may  seem  a strange  state- 
ment, but  the  quiet  dignity  that  she  manifested 
on  all  occasions  and  her  charming  manners  are 
not  often  met  with.  I have  never  felt  on  enter- 
ing a drawing-room  such  an  atmosphere  of  re- 
finement as  seemed  to  surround  her. 

That  the  Chinese  take  very  kindly  to  foreign 
medicine  there  is  no  doubt,  though  it  is  some- 
times amusing  how  they  go  back  to  their  own 
native  methods. 

One  day  my  husband  brought  home  a physio- 
logical chart  about  the  size  of  an  ordinary  man. 
It  was  covered  with  black  spots  and  I asked  him 
the  reason  for  them. 

“ That  is  what  I asked  the  dealer  from  whom  I 
bought  it,”  he  replied,  “ and  he  told  me  that  those 
spots  indicate  where  the  needle  can  be  inserted 
in  treatment  by  acupuncture  without  killing  the 
patient.” 

When  a Chinese  is  ill  the  doctor  generally  con- 
cludes that  the  only  way  to  cure  him  is  to  stick  a 


The  Chinese  Ladies — Their  Ills  283 

long  needle  into  him  and  let  out  the  pain  or  set 
up  counter  irritation.  If  the  patient  dies  it  is 
evident  he  stuck  the  needle  into  the  wrong  spot. 
And  this  chart  has  been  made  up  from  millions 
of  experiments  during  the  past  two  or  three  thou- 
sand years  from  patients  who  have  died  or  re- 
covered. 

This  was  practically  illustrated  by  a woman 
who  was  brought  to  the  hospital.  Having  had 
pain  in  the  knee  she  sent  for  a Chinese  physician 
who  concluded  that  the  only  method  of  relieving 
her  was  by  acupuncture.  He  therefore  inserted 
a needle  which  unfortunately  pierced  the  synovial 
sac  causing  inflammation  which  finally  resulted  in 
complete  destruction  of  the  joint.  Such  cases 
are  not  infrequent  both  among  adults  and  chil- 
dren in  all  grades  of  society,  due  to  this  method 
of  treatment. 

One  day  I was  called  to  see  a lady  who  was  in 
immediate  need  of  surgical  treatment.  She  had 
three  sons  who  were  in  high  official  positions  in 
the  palace,  and  if  their  mother  died  they  would 
have  to  withdraw  from  official  life  and  go  into 
mourning  for  three  years.  When  men  are  thus 
compelled  to  resign  the  new  incumbent  is  not  in- 
clined to  restore  the  office  when  the  period  of 
mourning  is  over.  They  were  therefore  doubly 
anxious  to  have  their  mother  recover.  They  had 
tried  all  kinds  of  Chinese  physicians  and  finally 
sent  for  me. 


Court  Life  in  China 


284 

I explained  the  nature  of  the  operation  neces- 
sary, and  gave  them  every  reason  to  hope  for  a 
speedy  recovery,  while  without  surgical  treat- 
ment she  must  surely  die.  They  consented  and 
the  operation  was  successful.  She  recovered 
rapidly  for  a few  days  until  I regarded  her  as 
practically  out  of  danger.  But  one  day  when  I 
called  I found  her  bathed  in  perspiration,  shaking 
with  fear,  weeping  and  depressed.  Her  wound 
was  in  an  excellent  condition  and  I could  find  no 
reason  for  her  despondency.  I cheered  her  up, 
laughed  and  talked  with  her,  gave  her  such  ar- 
ticles of  diet  as  she  craved,  and  left  her  happy. 
The  next  day  I again  found  her  in  the  same  nerv- 
ous condition. 

“Something  is  wrong  with  your  mother  of 
which  you  have  not  told  me,”  I said  to  her  son. 

“ Before  we  sent  for  you,”  he  said,  “ we  had 
called  a spirit  doctor,  who  went  into  a sort  of 
trance,  claimed  to  have  descended  into  the  spirit 
world  where  he  saw  them  making  a coffin  which 
he  said  my  mother  would  occupy  before  the  fif- 
teenth of  the  month.  It  is  because  that  time  is 
approaching  that  she  is  filled  with  fear.” 

I talked  with  the  lady,  showed  her  how  her 
wound  was  healing,  encouraged  her  to  rest  easy 
until  the  fifteenth,  when  I would  spend  the  day 
with  her,  after  which  she  immediately  began 
gaining  strength  and  soon  recovered. 

At  another  time  I was  called  to  see  the  wife  of 


The  Chinese  Ladies — Their  Ills 


285 


the  president  of  the  Board  of  Punishments.  I 
found  an  operation  necessary.  The  next  day  I 
found  the  patient  delirious  with  a fever,  and 
asked  the  husband  if  my  directions  had  been  fol- 
lowed. 

“ I assure  you  they  have,”  he  answered.  “But 
the  cause  of  the  fever  is  this  : Last  evening  while 
the  servants  were  taking  their  meal  she  was  left 
alone  for  a short  time.  While  they  were  absent, 
her  sister  who  lived  on  this  street,  a short  dis- 
tance from  here,  committed  suicide.  When  the 
servant  discovered  it  she  ran  directly  to  my  wife’s 
room,  and  told  her  of  the  tragedy.  My  wife  be- 
gan to  tremble,  had  a severe  chill,  and  soon  be- 
came delirious.  I suspect  that  her  sister’s  spirit 
accompanied  the  servant  and  entered  my  wife.” 

In  spite  of  this  explanation  I cleaned  and 
dressed  the  wound  and  left  her  more  comfortable. 
The  next  morning  she  was  somewhat  better, 
without  fever  and  in  her  right  mind. 

“ What  kind  of  a night  did  she  have  ? ” I asked 
her  husband. 

“ Oh,  very  good,”  he  answered.  “ I managed 
to  get  the  spirit  out  of  her.” 

“ How  did  you  do  it  ?”  I inquired. 

“ Soon  after  you  left  yesterday,  I dressed  my- 
self in  my  official  garments,  came  into  my  wife’s 
apartments,  and  asked  the  spirit  if  it  would  not 
like  to  go  with  me  to  the  yamen,  adding  that  we 
would  have  some  interesting  cases  to  settle.  I 


286 


Court  Life  in  China 


felt  a strange  sensation  come  over  me  and  I 
knew  the  spirit  had  entered  me.  I got  into  my 
cart,  drove  down  to  the  home  of  my  sister-in-law, 
went  in  where  the  corpse  lay,  and  told  the  spirit 
that  it  would  be  a disgrace  to  have  a woman  at 
the  Board  of  Punishments.  ‘ This  is  your  place,’ 
I said,  in  an  angry  voice ; ‘ get  out  of  me  and 
stay  where  you  belong.’  I felt  the  spirit  leaving 
me,  my  fingers  became  stiff  and  I felt  faint.  I 
had  only  been  at  the  Board  a short  time  when 
they  sent  a servant  to  tell  me  that  my  wife  was 
quiet  and  sleeping.  When  I returned  in  the 
evening  the  fever  was  gone  and  she  was 
rational.” 


XVIII 


The  Funeral  Ceremonies  of  a Dowag 
Princess 


There  are  five  degrees  of  mourning,  as  follows : — For 
parents,  grandparents  and  great-grandparents ; for  brothers 
and  sisters  ; for  uncles  and  aunts  ; and  for  distant  relatives. 
In  the  first  sackcloth  without  hem  or  border  j in  the  second 
with  hem  or  border ; in  the  third,  fourth  and  fifth,  pieces 
of  sackcloth  on  parts  of  the  dress.  When  sackcloth  is 
worn,  after  the  third  interval  of  seven  days  is  over  the 
mourners  can  cast  it  off,  and  wear  plain  colours,  such  as 
white,  gray,  black  and  blue.  For  a parent  the  period  is 
nominally  three  years,  but  really  twenty-seven  months, 
during  all  which  time  no  silk  can  be  worn  j during  this 
time  officials  have  to  resign  their  appointments,  and  retire 
from  public  life. 


— Dyer  Ball  in  “ Things  Chines eT 


XVIII 


THE  FUNERAL  CEREMONIES  OF  A DOWAGER 
PRINCESS ' 

ONE  day  I received  a large  sheet  of  white 
paper  on  which  was  written  in  Chinese 
characters  the  announcement  of  the 
death  of  the  Dowager  Princess  Su,  and  inviting 
me  to  the  “ third-day  exercises.”  The  real  mean- 
ing of  this  "'■  chieJi  san”  I did  not  comprehend, 
but  I knew  that  those  who  were  invited  sent 
presents  of  cakes  or  fruit,  or  baskets  of  paper 
flowers,  incense,  gold  and  silver  ingots  made  of 
paper,  or  rolls  of  paper  silk,  all  of  which  were  in- 
tended for  the  use  of  the  spirit  of  the  departed. 
The  paper  presents  were  all  burned  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  third  day,  while  the  spirit  feasted  upon 
the  flavour  of  the  fruit  and  cakes. 

As  I did  not  feel  that  it  was  appropriate  for  me 
to  send  these  things,  I had  a beautiful  wreath  of 
white  chr}^santhemum  flowers  made,  and  sent 
that  instead.  While  I appreciated  the  invitation, 
I thought  it  was  probably  given  only  as  a matter 
of  form,  and  that  I was  not  expected  to  attend 
the  exercises,  and  so  I sent  my  Chinese  maid 
with  the  wreath,  saying  that  as  I did  not  under- 
stand their  customs  I would  not  go. 

Taken  from  Mrs.  Headland’s  note-book. 

289 


29P 


Court  Life  in  China 


It  was  not  long  until  the  maid  returned  saying 
that  they  were  anxious  to  have  me  come,  that 
under  no  circumstances  must  I refuse,  as  they 
wished  me  to  see  their  funeral  ceremonies.  The 
Princess  sent  her  cart  for  me,  and  according  to 
the  Chinese  custom,  I took  my  maid  seated  upon 
the  front,  and  set  out  for  Prince  Su’s  palace.  As 
we  neared  our  destination  we  passed  numerous 
carts  and  chairs  of  princes  who  had  been  at  the 
palace  to  pay  their  respects.  The  street  leading 
off  the  great  thoroughfare  was  filled  with  carts, 
chairs,  servants  and  outriders,  but  the  utmost 
order  prevailed.  There  were  scores  of  soldiers 
and  special  police,  the  latter  dressed  in  long  gar- 
ments of  gray  with  a short  jacket  of  white  on  the 
breast  of  which  was  his  number  in  black.  These 
gray  and  white  uniforms  were  mourning  colours, 
and  were  given  by  the  Prince. 

As  we  entered  the  gate  we  saw  white-robed 
servants  everywhere,  each  with  a sober  face  and 
a dignified  bearing,  waiting  to  be  of  use.  My 
name  was  announced  and  two  servants  stepped 
out  from  the  crowd,  clothed  from  head  to  feet  in 
white  sackcloth,  one  presenting  his  arm  to  help 
me  through  the  court,  as  though  I were  a bound- 
footed woman,  and  the  other  led  the  way.  We 
were  taken  by  a roundabout  path,  through  nu- 
merous courts  and  passages,  the  front  being  re- 
served for  the  male  guests,  and  were  finally  ush- 
ered into  a room  filled  with  white-robed  women 


Funeral  Ceremonies  291 

servants,  who  with  one  accord  bent  their  knee  in 
a low  courtesy. 

We  were  there  met  by  the  first  and  third  Prin- 
cesses, daughters  of  the  Dowager  who  had  just 
passed  away.  They  were  dressed  in  white,  their 
hair  being  put  up  in  the  Manchu  fashion.  In- 
stead of  the  jewels  and  bright  flowers,  however, 
it  was  crossed  and  recrossed  with  bands  of  white 
folded  sackcloth.  As  these  two  ladies  were  mar- 
ried daughters,  and  had  left  this  home,  their  sack- 
cloth was  not  so  coarse  as  that  of  the  daughters- 
in-law  and  granddaughters  who  dwelt  in  the 
palace.  It  was  they  who  received  the  guests 
and  conducted  them  into  the  room  where  the 
mourners  were  kneeling. 

As  the  white  door  screen  was  raised  I saw  two 
rows  of  white-robed  figures  kneeling  on  the  floor, 
and  as  I entered  they  all  bent  forward  and  touched 
their  head  to  the  ground,  giving  forth  as  they  did 
it  a low,  wailing  chant. 

Not  knowing  their  customs  I went  up  and 
stooped  over,  speaking  first  to  the  Princess  and 
then  to  the  ladies  as  best  I could.  I afterwards 
watched  the  other  lady  visitors  and  saw  that 
they  put  their  right  hand  up  near  their  head  as 
our  soldiers  salute,  and  courtesied  to  the  Princess, 
her  daughter-in-law  and  her  eldest  daughter. 
They  then  went  over  to  a little  table  on  which 
was  a silver  sacrificial  set,  consisting  of  a wine 
tankard,  a great  bowl,  and  a number  of  tiny  cups 


292 


Court  Life  in  China 


holding  but  two  tablespoonfuls.  They  took  the 
cup  in  its  little  saucer,  and,  facing  the  beautiful 
canopied  catafalque  where  the  Dowager  Princess 
was  lying  in  state,  they  raised  the  cup  as  high  as 
their  head  three  times,  emptying  and  refilling  it 
each  time.  The  mourners  prostrated  themselves 
and  gave  forth  a mournful  wail  each  time  the  cup 
was  poured,  after  which  the  visitor  arose  and 
came  over  to  where  we  were,  and  the  ceremony 
was  over. 

The  third  daughter  of  the  late  Dowager  seemed 
to  regard  me  as  her  special  friend  and  guest,  and 
insisted  on  my  coming  over  to  a white  curtain 
that  separated  us  from  the  view  of  the  gentlemen, 
and  from  there  I watched  the  proceedings  of 
princes  and  officials  who  went  through  a similar 
ceremony.  There  was  this  difference  with  them, 
however,  as  they  entered  through  the  great 
canopied  court,  they  were  conducted  by  white- 
robed  servants  directly  to  the  altar,  and  there 
kneeling,  they  made  their  obeisance  to  the  spirit 
of  the  departed,  after  which  they  went  into  the 
room  where  the  Prince  and  the  other  male  de- 
scendants of  the  dead  Dowager  were  kneeling  and 
prostrating  themselves. 

There  was  a heavy  yellow  curtain  over  the  door 
that  led  into  the  sacrificial  hall,  and  when  the 
servants  from  without  announced  a visitor,  this 
curtain  was  drawn  aside,  and  as  the  guest  and  a 
flood  of  light  entered,  the  mourners  began  their 


Funeral  Ceremonies 


293 


wailing  which  they  continued  until  he  had  de- 
parted. These  visitors  remained  but  a moment, 
while  the  ladies  who  were  there  w’ere  all  near 
relatives,  and  were  dressed  either  entirely  or 
partially  in  sackcloth. 

The  room  in  which  these  ladies  knelt  was 
draped  in  white.  The  cushions  were  all  covered 
with  white,  and  all  porcelain  and  other  decora- 
tions had  been  removed.  The  floor  was  covered 
with  a heavy  rope  matting,  on  which  the  ladies 
knelt — all  except  the  Princess,  for  whom  was 
prepared  a small  dark  blue  felt  cushion.  The 
Princess  knelt  at  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
room,  directly  in  front  of  the  curtain  which 
separated  them  from  the  sacrificial  hall.  Several 
of  the  very  near  male  relatives  entered  and  gave 
the  low  Manchu  courtesy  to  the  Princess,  the 
son’s  wife,  and  the  eldest  daughter,  though  none 
of  the  other  kneeling  ladies  were  recognized. 
They  left  immediately  without,  so  far  as  I noticed, 
raising  their  eyes. 

The  Prince,  his  sons  and  the  other  mourners  in 
the  men’s  room  were  clothed  in  white  fur,  and  the 
servants  too,  who  stood  in  the  sacrificial  hall,  and 
at  intervals  along  the  way  towards  the  hall,  wore 
white  fur  coats  instead  of  sackcloth. 

To  the  left  of  the  Princess  there  knelt  in  suc- 
cession all  the  secondary  wives  of  Prince  Su,  and  if 
I mistake  not  there  were  five  of  these  concubines. 
Behind  the  Princess  knelt  her  son’s  wife — the 


294  Court  Life  in  China 

future  Princess  Su,  and  on  her  left,  the  daughters 
and  granddaughters  of  the  Prince  knelt  in  succes- 
sion. The  Princess  and  secondary  princesses 
had  bands  of  sackcloth  wouird  around  their 
heads,  though  their  hair  hung  down  their  backs 
in  two  long  braids,  and  as  I had  never  seen  these 
princesses  except  when  clothed  in  beautifully  em- 
broidered satin  garments,  with  hair  put  up  in 
elaborate  coiffures,  decked  with  jewels  and 
flowers,  and  faces  painted  and  powdered  in  the 
proper  Manchu  fashion,  it  was  not  easy  to  rec- 
ognize them  in  these  white-robed,  yellow-faced 
women,  with  hair  hanging  down  their  backs. 

The  grandson’s  wife  and  granddaughters,  on 
the  other  hand,  had  their  hair  combed,  but  the 
long  hairpin  was  of  silver  instead  of  jade  or 
gold,  and  instead  of  being  decorated  with  jewels 
and  flowers,  and  a red  cord,  it  was  crossed  and 
recrossed  with  bands  of  folded  sackcloth  an  inch 
and  a half  in  width.  It  was  neat  and  very  effect- 
ive— the  black  hair  and  white  cloth  making  a 
pretty  contrast  to  the  Western  eye,  though  it 
would  probably  not  be  so  considered  by  the 
Chinese. 

After  I had  watched  them  for  a few  moments  I 
said  to  the  princess  who  accompanied  me : 

“ I must  not  intrude  upon  your  time  longer ; 
you  have  been  very  kind  to  allow  me  to  witness 
all  these  interesting  customs.” 

“ Oh,  but  you  must  not  go  now,”  she  insisted  ; 


Funeral  Ceremonies  295 

“you  must  remain  and  see  the  arrival  of  the 
priests,  and  the  burning  of  the  paper  houses, 
goods,  chattels,  and  images  on  the  great  street. 
I want  you  to  understand  all  our  customs,  and 
this  is  the  greatest  and  most  interesting  day  of 
the  funeral  ceremonies.” 

I urged  that  I ought  not  to  intrude  myself 
upon  them  at  this  time. 

“No,  no,”  she  said,  “you  must  not  say  that. 
It  is  not  intrusion ; you  must  stay  and  dine  with 
us  this  evening.” 

When  I still  insisted  upon  going  she  said  that 
if  I went  they  would  feel  that  I did  not  care  for 
them,  and  she  was  so  persistent  that  I consented 
to  remain  if  the  maid  might  be  sent  home  to  the 
children,  which  they  at  once  arranged  for. 

In  the  interval  between  the  arrival  of  male 
guests,  the  ladies  took  me  out  into  a large 
canopied  court  to  see  the  decorations,  and  into 
the  sacrificial  hall.  These  ceremonies  were  all 
conducted  in  the  house  and  court  which  the 
Dowager  Princess  had  occupied,  and  where  I had 
often  gone  to  see  her  when  she  wanted  to  thank 
me  for  some  medical  attention  I had  given  her 
children  or  grandchildren. 

As  we  passed  through  the  great  gate,  I 
noticed  that  the  court  was  covered  with  a mat 
pavilion  making  a room  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  square,  lighted  by  great  squares  of  glass 
near  the  top,  and  decorated  with  banners  of 


Court  Life  in  China 


296 

rich  brocade  silks  or  satins,  of  sober  colours, 
blue,  gr8.y  or  white,  on  which  were  texts  extolling 
the  virtues  of  the  late  Dowager  or  her  family. 
These  were  the  gifts  of  friends,  who  had  been 
coming  and  would  continue  to  come  for  days  if 
not  weeks. 

At  the  north  end  as  one  came  in  at  the  gate 
was  a gallery  running  the  whole  length  of  the 
northern  court,  fitted  up  with  special  hangings 
which  separated  it  into  different  compartments. 
Many  elegant  banners  and  decorations  gave  it  a 
striking  effect.  This  was  the  place  where  the 
priests,  who  had  not  yet  arrived,  were  to  say 
their  prayers  day  and  night  until  the  funeral 
ceremonies  were  over. 

Directly  in  front  of  the  catafalque,  in  the  gallery, 
there  was  a table  on  which  I afterwards  saw  the 
priests  place  a silver  vessel  which  the  head  priest 
carried,  and  the  others  regarded  with  much 
solemnity. 

From  the  gateway  leading  into  the  sacrificial 
hall  the  floor  of  the  court  had  been  raised  even 
with  the  door  of  the  house  and  the  gate,  a height 
of  about  five  feet,  and  forty  feet  wide,  and  was 
covered  with  the  same  kind  of  rope  matting  that 
was  on  the  floors.  On  the  canopied  verandas 
there  were  stacks  of  cakes,  incense,  fruit  and 
money.  These  were  the  most  novel  sights  I 
have  ever  seen  in  China.  They  were  ten  or 
twelve  feet  high.  They  were  a very  pretty  sight. 


Funeral  Ceremonies  297 

and  it  required  some  scrutiny  to  discover  that 
they  were  made  of  cakes  and  fruit.  How  they 
were  able  to  build  them  thus,  tier  upon  tier,  and 
prevent  their  falling  when  they  were  touched  is 
beyond  my  comprehension.  What  magic  there 
is  in  it  I do  not  know. 

As  one  entered  the  door  of  the  sacrificial  hall, 
towering  above  everything  else,  was  the  great 
catafalque,  draped  in  cloth  of  gold,  and  in  front 
of  it  were  stacks  of  these  sacrificial  cakes.  Near 
them  there  was  a table  on  which  there  were  great 
white,  square  candles,  five  inches  or  more  in 
diameter,  the  four  sides  of  which  were  stamped 
with  figures  of  fairies  and  immortals.  On  this 
table  there  were  also  various  savoury  dishes,  to- 
gether with  cakes  and  fruit,  prepared  to  feed  the 
spirit  of  the  dead.  In  front  of  this  table  again 
there  was  another  about  a foot  high  on  which 
were  placed  the  sacrificial  wine  vessels,  and  be- 
fore which  the  guests  knelt.  As  we  entered  I 
saw  the  gentlemen  kneeling  to  the  left,  while  the 
ladies,  separated  from  them  by  white  curtains, 
were  kneeling  to  the  right. 

After  we  had  seen  the  various  customs  without, 
I was  taken  into  the  dining-room,  where  I sat 
down  with  the  young  Princess  and  her  two 
aunts,  daughters  of  the  Dowager.  They  were 
very  kind  and  polite,  and  did  all  in  their  power 
to  make  me  feel  at  home.  We  were  attended  by 
white-robed  eunuchs,  who  knelt  when  they  spoke 


298 


Court  Life  in  China 


to  the  Princess.  There  was  such  a lot  of 
them. 

“ How  many  servants  do  you  use  ordinarily?” 
I asked  the  eldest  daughter. 

“ About  four  hundred,”  she  replied. 

I thought  of  the  task  of  robing  four  hundred 
servants  in  new  white  sackcloth,  and  attending 
to  all  the  other  things  that  I had  seen,  in  the 
forty-eight  hours  since  the  death  of  the  Dowager 
Princess.  Even  the  bread,  instead  of  being 
dotted  with  red  as  it  is  ordinarily,  was  dotted 
with  black  1 

As  we  were  finishing  our  supper  we  heard  the 
horns  of  the  priests  and  went  to  see  them  arrive. 
Prince  Su,  and  the  other  male  members  of  the 
family,  went  out  to  the  door  to  receive  them,  but 
we  remained  within.  They  first  went  to  the 
gallery,  then  the  head  priest  came  down  into  the 
sacrificial  hall  and  made  nine  prostrations  before 
the  catafalque,  without,  however,  pouring  or  of- 
fering wine.  After  each  third  prostration  he 
stood  up  and  raised  his  clasped  hands  to  a level 
with  his  eyes.  They  then  began  their  weird 
music,  standing  on  the  two  sides  of  the  raised 
platform  between  the  gate  and  the  house,  thus 
allowing  a passageway  between  them  for  the 
guests. 

The  Princess  told  me  that  they  were  about  to 
form  a procession  to  go  to  the  great  street.  I 
therefore  took  my  leave  in  order  that  I might 


Funeral  Ceremonies  299 

precede  them  and  see  the  procession  arrive,  and 
witness  the  burning  of  the  presents  for  the  spirit. 

When  I arrived  on  the  great  street  I there  be- 
held a paper  cart  and  horses  which  were  intended 
to  transport  the  spirit  to  the  eastern  heaven. 
There  was  a sedan  chair  for  her  use  after  her  ar- 
rival, numerous  servants,  money,  silk,  and  a 
beautiful,  big  house  for  her  to  dwell  in,  all  made 
of  paper.  I had  not  long  to  wait  for  the  proces- 
sion, which  was  headed  by  the  priests  playing 
mournful,  wailing  music  on  large  and  small 
horns  and  drums.  The  priests  were  followed  by 
the  mourners  and  their  friends.  When  they  ar- 
rived at  the  place  of  the  burning,  the  mourners 
prostrated  themselves  upon  white  cushions  be- 
fore the  paper  furnishings  amid  the  shrieks  of  the 
instruments,  the  wailing  of  the  hired  mourners, 
and  the  petitions  of  the  priests  for  the  spirits  to 
assist  the  departed  on  her  way. 

While  this  was  going  on,  fire  was  applied  to 
various  parts  of  the  paper  pile,  and  in  a moment 
a great  flame  sprang  up  into  the  air — a flame 
that  could  be  seen  from  miles  around,  and  in  less 
time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it  the  whole  was  a heap 
of  glowing  ashes,  the  mourners  had  departed, 
and  the  little  street  children  were  stirring  it  up 
with  long  sticks. 

The  first  three  days  after  death,  the  spirit  is 
supposed  to  visit  the  different  temples,  going,  as 
it  were,  from  official  court  to  official  court  receiv- 


300 


Court  Life  in  China 


ing  judgment,  and  cards  of  merit  or  demerit  to 
take  with  it,  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body.  On 
the  third  day  it  returns  to  say  farewell  to  the 
home,  and  then  leaves  for  its  long  journey,  and 
all  this  paper  furniture  is  sent  on  ahead. 

They  continue  forty-nine  days  of  prayers  by 
the  priests,  alternating  three  days  by  the  Bud- 
dhists, three  by  the  Lamas,  and  three  by  the 
Taoists,  after  which  the  Buddhists  take  their 
turn  again.  Everything  else  remains  much  as  I 
have  described  it.  The  family,  servants,  every- 
body in  mourning,  and  all  business  put  aside  to 
make  way  for  this  ceremony  of  mourning,  mourn- 
ing, mourning,  when  they  ought  to  be  rejoicing, 
for  the  poor  old  Princess  had  been  a paralytic  for 
years  and  was  far  better  out  of  her  misery. 

The  Princess  frequently  sent  her  cart  for  me 
during  these  days.  Once  when  I was  going 
through  the  court  where  there  were  vast  quanti- 
ties of  things  to  be  burned  for  the  spirit,  all  made 
of  paper,  I noticed  some  that  were  so  natural 
that  I was  unable  to  distinguish  between  them 
and  the  real  things.  Especially  was  this  true  of 
the  furniture  and  flowers  like  that  which  had  been 
in  her  apartments.  There  were  great  ebony 
chairs  with  fantastically  marked  marble  seats, 
cabinets,  and  all  the  furniture  necessary  for  her 
use.  Among  these  things  I noticed  on  the  table 
a pack  of  cards  and  a set  of  dice,  of  which  she 
had  been  very  fond,  and  a chair  like  the  one  in 


Funeral  Ceremonies 


301 


which  the  eunuchs  had  carried  the  crippled  old 
Princess  about  the  court,  and  I said  to  the  young 
Princess  who  accompanied  me : 

“You  do  not  think  your  grandmother  will  re- 
quire these  things  in  the  spirit  world,  do  you  ? ” 

“ Perhaps  not,”  she  replied,  “ but  she  enjoyed 
her  cards  and  dice,  and  the  chair  was  such  a 
necessity,  that,  whether  she  needs  them  or  not,  it 
is  a comfort  to  us  to  get  and  send  her  everything 
she  liked  while  she  lived,  and  it  helps  us  bear  our 
sorrows.” 


Chinese  Princes  and  Officials 


In  any  estimate  of  the  forces  which  lead  and  control 
public  opinion  in  China,  everywhere  from  the  knot  of 
peasants  in  the  hamlet  to  the  highest  officers  of  state  and 
the  Emperor  himself,  the  literati,  or  educated  class,  must 
be  given  a prominent  position.  They  form  an  immense 
body,  increased  each  year  by  the  government  examina- 
tions. They  are  at  the  head  of  the  social  order.  Every 
civil  officer  in  the  empire  must  be  chosen  from  their  num- 
ber. They  constitute  the  basis  of  an  elaborate  system  of 
civil  service,  well  equipped  with  checks  and  balances 
which,  if  corrected  and  brought  into  touch  with  modern 
life  and  thought,  would  easily  command  the  admiration  of 
the  world. 

— Chester  Holcomb  in  “ The  Real  Chinese  Question." 


XIX 


CHINESE  PRINCES  AND  OFFICIALS 

ONE  day  while  the  head  eunuch  from  the 
palace  of  one  of  the  leading  princes  in 
Peking  was  sitting  in  my  study  he  said  : 
“ It  is  drawing  near  to  the  New  Year.  Do  you 
celebrate  the  New  Year  in  your  honourable  coun- 
try ? ” 

“Yes,”  I replied,  “though  not  quite  the  same 
as  you  do  here.” 

“ Do  you  fire  off  crackers  ? ” 

“ Yes,  in  the  matter  of  firecrackers,  we  celebrate 
very  much  the  same  as  you  do.” 

“ And  do  you  settle  up  all  your  debts  as  we  do 
here?” 

“ I am  afraid  we  do  not.  That  is  not  a part  of 
our  New  Year  celebration.” 

“ Our  Prince  is  going  to  take  on  two  more 
concubines  this  New  Year,”  he  volunteered. 

“Ah,  indeed,  I thought  he  had  three  concu- 
bines already.” 

“ So  he  does,  but  he  is  entitled  to  five.” 

“ I should  think  it  would  make  trouble  in  a 
family  for  one  man  to  have  so  many  women,”  I 
ventured. 

He  waved  his  hand  in  that  peculiar  way  the 
305 


306  Court  Life  in  China 

Chinese  have  of  saying,  don’t  mention  it,  as  he 
answered ; 

“ That  is  a difficult  matter  to  discuss.  Natu- 
rally if  this  woman  sees  the  Prince  talking  to  that 
one,  this  one  is  going  to  eat  vinegar,”  which 
gives  us  a glimpse  of  some  of  the  domestic  diffi- 
culties in  Chinese  high  life.  However  it  is  a fact 
worth  remembering  that  the  Manchu  prince  does 
not  receive  his  full  stipend  from  the  government 
until  he  has  five  concubines,  each  of  whom  is  the 
mother  of  a son. 

The  leading  princes  of  the  new  regime  are 
Ching,  Su,  and  Pu-lun.  Prince  Ching  has  been 
the  leader  of  the  Manchus  ever  since  the  down- 
fall of  Prince  Kung.  He  has  held  almost  every 
office  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager to  give,  “ though  disliked  by  the  Emperor.” 
He  was  made  president  of  the  Tsung-li  Yamen 
in  1884,  and  from  that  time  until  the  present  has 
never  been  degraded,  or  in  any  way  lost  the  im- 
perial favour.  He  is  small  in  stature,  has  none  of 
the  elements  of  the  great  man  that  characterized 
Li  Hung-chang  and  Chang  Chih-tung,  or  Prince 
Kung,  but  he  has  always  been  characterized  by 
that  diplomacy  which  has  kept  him  one  of  the 
most  useful  officials  in  close  connection  with  the 
Empress  Dowager.  It  is  to  his  credit  moreover 
that  the  legations  were  preserved  from  the  Box- 
ers in  the  siege  of  1900. 

Prince  Su  is  the  only  one  of  the  eight  heredi- 


Chinese  Princes  and  Officials  307 

tary  princes  who  holds  any  office  that  brings 
him  into  intimate  contact  with  the  foreigners. 
During  the  Boxer  siege  he  gave  his  palace 
for  the  use  of  the  native  Christians,  and  at  the 
close  was  made  collector  of  the  customs  duties 
(octoroi)  at  the  city  gates.  Never  had  there 
been  any  one  in  charge  of  this  post  who  turned 
in  as  large  proportion  of  the  total  collections 
as  he.  This  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  other 
officials,  and  they  said  to  each  other:  “If  Prince 
Su  is  allowed  to  hold  this  position  for  any 
length  of  time  there  will  never  be  anything  in  it 
for  any  one  else.”  They  therefore  sought  for  a 
ground  of  accusation,  and  they  found  it,  in  the 
eyes  of  the  conservatives,  in  the  fact  that  he  rode 
in  a foreign  carriage,  built  himself  a house  after 
the  foreign  style  of  architecture,  furnished  it  with 
foreign  furniture,  employed  an  Englishman  to 
teach  his  boys,  and  as  we  have  seen  opened  a 
school  for  the  women  and  girls  of  his  family. 
He  therefore  lost  his  position,  but  it  is  to  the 
credit  of  Prince  Chiin,  the  new  Regent,  and  his 
progressive  policy,  that  Prince  Su  has  been  made 
chief  of  the  naval  department,  of  which  Prince 
Ching  is  only  an  adviser. 

The  most  important  person  among  either 
princes  or  officials  that  has  been  connected  with 
the  new  regime  is  Yuan  Shih-kai.  He  was  born 
in  the  province  of  Honan,  that  province  south  of 
the  Yellow  River  which  is  almost  annually 


308  Court  Life  in  China 

flooded  by  that  great  muddy  stream  which  is 
called  “ China’s  Sorrow.”  As  a boy  he  was  a 
diligent  student  of  the  Chinese  classics  and  of 
such  foreign  books  as  had  been  translated  into 
the  Chinese  language,  but  he  has  never  studied 
a foreign  tongue  nor  visited  a foreign  country. 
Here  then  rests  the  first  element  of  his  greatness 
— that  without  any  knowledge  of  foreign  lan- 
guage, foreign  law,  foreign  literature,  science  of 
government,  or  the  history  of  progress  and  of 
civilization,  he  has  occupied  the  highest  and  most 
responsible  positions  in  the  gift  of  the  empire, 
has  steered  the  ship  of  state  on  a straight  course 
between  the  shoals  of  conservatism  on  the  one 
hand  and  radical  reform  on  the  other  until  he 
has  brought  her  near  to  the  harbour  of  a safe 
progressive  policy. 

He  has  always  been  what  the  Chinese  call  the 
tu-ti  or  pupil  of  Li  Hung-chang,  and  it  may  be 
that  it  was  from  him  he  learned  his  statecraft. 
Certain  it  is  that  he  always  basked  in  the  fa- 
vour of  the  great  Viceroy,  and  it  may  be  that  he 
had  more  or  less  influence  with  him  in  his  earlier 
appointments,  for  he  rose  rapidly  and  in  spite  of 
all  other  officials. 

On  his  return  from  Korea  he  was  made  a 
judge.  He  was  then  put  in  charge  of  the  army 
of  the  metropolitan  province,  and  with  the  as- 
sistance of  German  officers  he  succeeded  in 
drilling  12,500  troops  after  the  European  fashion. 


Chinese  Princes  and  Officials  309 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  Emperor  con- 
ceived the  plan  of  instituting  and  carrying  out 
one  of  the  most  stupendous  reforms  that  has 
ever  been  undertaken  in  human  government — 
that  of  transforming  four  thousand  years  of  con- 
servatism of  four  hundred  millions  of  people  in 
the  short  space  of  a few  months. 

Given : A people  who  cannot  make  a nail,  to 
build  a railroad. 

Given  ; A people  who  dare  not  plow  a deep 
furrow  for  fear  of  disturbing  the  spirits  of  the 
place,  to  open  gold,  silver,  iron  and  coal  mines. 

Given  : A people  who  in  4,000  years  did  not 
have  the  genius  to  develop  a decent  high  school, 
to  open  a university  in  the  capital  of  every 
province. 

These  are  three  of  the  score  or  more  of  equally 
difficult  problems  that  the  Emperor  undertook  to 
solve  in  twice  as  many  days.  In  order  to  the 
solution  of  these  problems  there  was  organized 
in  Peking  a Reform  Party  of  hot-headed,  radical 
young  scholars  not  one  of  whom  has  ever  turned 
out  to  be  a statesman.  They  were  brilliant  young 
men,  many  of  them,  but  they  so  lost  their  heads 
in  their  enthusiasm  for  reform  that  they  forgot 
that  their  government  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
same  old  conservative  leaders  under  whom  it 
had  been  for  forty  centuries. 

They  introduced  into  the  palace  as  the  private 
adviser  of  the  Emperor,  Kang  Yu-wei,  as  we 


310 


Court  Life  in  China 


have  already  shown,  to  whom  was  thus  offered 
one  of  the  greatest  opportunities  that  was  ever 
given  to  a human  being — that  of  being  the  leader 
in  this  great  reform.  He  was  hailed  as  a young 
Confucius,  but  his  popularity  was  short-lived,  for 
he  so  lacked  all  statesmanship  as  to  allow  the 
young  Emperor  to  issue  twenty-seven  edicts,  dis- 
posing of  twenty-seven  difficult  problems  such  as 
I have  given  above  in  about  twice  that  many 
days,  and  it  is  this  hot-headed  and  unstatesman- 
like young  “ Confucius  ” who  now  calls  Yuan 
Shih-kai  an  opportunist  and  a traitor  because  he 
did  not  enter  into  the  following  plot. 

After  the  Emperor  had  dismissed  two  conserv- 
ative vice-presidents  of  a Board,  two  governors 
of  provinces,  and  a half  dozen  other  useless  con- 
servative leaders,  they  plotted  to  overthrow  him 
by  appealing  to  the  ambition  of  the  Empress 
Dowager  and  induce  her  to  dethrone  him  and 
again  assume  the  reins  of  government.  They 
argued  that  “ he  was  her  adopted  son,  it  was  she 
who  had  placed  him  on  the  throne,  and  she  was 
therefore  responsible  for  his  mistakes.”  They 
complimented  her  on  “ the  wisdom  which  she 
had  manifested,  and  the  statesmanship  she  had 
exhibited  ” during  the  thirty  years  and  more  of 
her  regency.  To  all  which  she  listened  with  a 
greedy  ear,  but  still  she  made  no  move. 

During  this  time  were  the  Emperor  and  his 
young  “ Confucius ” idle?  By  no  means.  They 


Chinese  Princes  and  Officials  311 

had  hatched  a counterplot,  and  had  decided  that 
what  they  could  not  do  by  moral  suasion  and 
statesmanship  they  v/ould  do  by  force,  and  so 
they  sent  an  order  to  Yuan  Shih-kai,  who  as  we 
have  said  had  drilled  and  was  in  charge  of  12,500 
of  the  best  troops  in  the  empire,  urging  him  to 
“ hasten  to  the  capital  at  once,  place  the  Empress 
Dowager  under  guard  in  the  Summer  Palace  so 
that  she  may  not  be  allowed  to  interfere  in  the 
affairs  of  the  government,  and  protect  him  in  his 
reform  measures.” 

The  Emperor  knew  that  nothing  could  be 
done  without  the  command  of  the  army  which 
was  largely  in  the  hands  of  a great  conservative 
friend  of  the  Empress  Dowager  (Jung  Lu)  the 
father-in-law  of  the  present  Regent.  Yuan  was 
in  charge  of  an  army  corps  of  12,500  troops,  but 
for  him  to  have  taken  them  even  at  the  command 
of  the  Emperor,  without  informing  his  superior 
officer,  would  have  meant  the  loss  of  his  head  at 
once.  The  first  thing  then  for  him  to  do  was  to 
take  this  order  to  Jung  Lu.  Yuan  was  in  favour 
of  reform,  though  he  may  not  have  approved  of 
the  Emperor’s  methods.  Jung  Lu  hastened  to 
Prince  Ching  and  they  two  sped  to  the  Empress 
Dowager  in  the  Summer  Palace  where  they  laid 
the  whole  matter  before  her.  She  hurried  to 
Peking,  boldly  faced  and  denounced  the  Emperor, 
took  from  him  his  seal  of  state,  and  confined  him 
a prisoner  in  the  Winter  Palace.  Kang  Yu-wei, 


312 


Court  Life  in  China 


the  young  “ Confucius,”  fled,  but  the  Empress 
Dowager  seized  his  brother  and  five  other  patri- 
otic young  reformers,  and  ordered  them  beheaded 
on  the  public  execution  grounds  in  Peking. 

Naturally  the  Empress  Dowager  approved  of 
the  “ wise  and  statesmanlike  methods  ” of  Yuan 
in  thus  protecting  instead  of  imprisoning  her, 
and  thus  placing  the  reins  of  government  once 
more  in  her  hands,  and  she  appointed  him  Junior 
Vice-President  of  the  Board  of  Works,  and  when 
she  was  compelled  to  remove  the  Governor  of 
Shantung  who  had  organized  the  Boxer  Society, 
she  appointed  Y uan  Acting  Governor  in  his  stead. 
“Yuan,”  says  Arthur  H.  Smith,  was  “ a man  of 
a wholly  different  stripe  ” from  the  one  removed, 
and  “ if  left  to  himself  he  would  speedily  have 
exterminated  the  whole  Boxer  brood,  but  being 
hampered  by  ‘ confidential  instructions  ’ from  the 
palace,  he  could  do  little  but  issue  poetical  proc- 
lamations, and  revile  his  subordinates  for  failure 
to  do  their  duty.” 

When  Yuan  was  made  Governor  of  Shantung 
a number  of  the  Boxer  leaders  called  upon  him 
expecting  to  find  in  him  a sympathizer  worthy  of 
his  predecessor.  They  told  him  of  their  great 
powers  and  possibilities,  and  of  how  they  were 
proof  against  the  spears,  swords  and  bullets  of 
their  enemies.  Yuan  listened  to  them  with  pa- 
tience and  interest,  and  invited  them  to  dine  with 
him  and  other  official  friends  in  the  near  future. 


Chinese  Princes  and  Officials  313 

During  the  dinner  the  Governor  directed  the 
conversation  towards  the  Boxer  leaders  and  their 
prowess,  and  led  them  once  more  to  relate  to 
all  his  friends  their  powers  of  resistance.  He  fed 
them  well,  and  after  the  dinner  was  over  he  sug- 
gested that  they  give  an  exhibition  of  their 
wonderful  powers  to  the  friends  whom  he  had  in- 
vited. This  they  could  not  well  refuse  to  do  after 
the  braggadocio  way  in  which  they  had  talked, 
and  so  the  Governor  lined  them  up,  called  forth  a 
number  of  his  best  marksmen,  and  proceeded 
with  the  exhibition,  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  add 
that  if  the  Empress  Dowager  had  invited  Yuan 
to  the  meeting  with  the  princes  when  they  dis- 
cussed the  advisability  of  joining  the  Boxers  on 
account  of  a belief  in  their  supernatural  powers, 
she  might  have  been  spared  the  humiliation  of 
1900. 

We  shall  soon  see  that  Yuan  cared  no  more 
for  the  “ confidential  instructions  ” of  the  Empress 
Dowager,  when  his  statesmanship  was  involved, 
than  for  the  orders  of  the  Emperor.  His  business 
was  to  govern  and  protect  the  people  of  his 
province,  and  thanks  to  his  wise  statesmanship 
and  strong  character  “there  was  not  only  no 
foreigner  killed  during  the  troubled  season  of 
anxiety  and  flight”  of  1900,  and  “comparatively 
little  of  the  suffering  elsewhere  so  common.” 

And  now  we  come  to  another  plot  which  in- 
dicates the  character  of  Yuan  and  two  other 


314  Court  Life  in  China 

great  viceroys,  Chang  Chih-tung,  now  Grand 
Secretary,  and  Liu  Kun-yi,  Viceroy  of  the  Yang- 
tse-kiang  provinces.  It  is  a well-known  fact 
that  during  the  Boxer  rebellion  the  Empress 
Dowager  was  so  influenced  by  the  promises  of 
the  Boxers  to  drive  out  all  the  foreigners  that  she 
sent  out  some  very  unwise  edicts  that  they  should 
be  massacred  in  the  provinces.  Yuan  and  his 
two  confreres  secretly  stipulated  that  if  the 
foreign  men  of  war  would  keep  away  from  the 
ports  of  their  provinces  they  would  maintain 
peace  and  protect  the  foreigners  no  matter  what 
orders  came  from  the  throne.  So  that  when 
these  confidential  instructions  came  from  the 
palace  to  massacre  the  foreigners,  in  order  to 
gain  time  they  pretended  to  believe  that  no  such 
orders  could  have  come  from  the  throne.  They 
must  be  forgeries  of  the  Boxers.  They  therefore 
refused  to  believe  them  until  they  had  sent  their 
own  special  messenger  all  the  way  to  Peking  to 
get  the  edict  from  the  hands  of  Her  Majesty  and 
bring  it  to  them  in  their  provinces.  This  mes- 
senger was  also  secretly  instructed  to  find  out 
what  the  contents  of  the  edict  were,  and  if  it  was 
contrary  to  the  desires  of  the  Governor,  he  was 
to  dilly-dally  on  the  way  home  until  the  Boxer 
trouble  was  ended  or  until  the  foreigners  had  all 
been  removed  from  the  territory.  And  it  was 
such  conduct  as  this  on  the  part  of  three  Chinese 
and  one  Manchu  viceroys  that  saved  China  from 


Chinese  Princes  and  Officials  315 

being  divided  up  among  the  Powers  in  1900,  a 
fact  which  the  Empress  Dowager  was  not  slow 
to  understand  and  reward. 

In  1900  Yuan  was  made  Governor  of  the 
Shantung  province,  and  the  court  was  compelled 
to  flee  to  Hsian.  It  was  while  the  court  was  thus 
in  hiding  that  an  incident  occurred  which  in- 
dicates the  fertility  of  the  Empress  Dowager  and 
the  elasticity  of  all  Chinese  social  customs. 
Governor  Yuan’s  mother  died.  In  a case  of  this 
kind  customs  dictate,  and  the  rules  of  filial  affec- 
tion demand,  that  a man  shall  resign  all  his  offi- 
cial positions  and  go  into  mourning  for  a period 
of  three  years.  Y uan  therefore  sent  his  resigna- 
tion to  the  Empress  Dowager,  while  “ weeping 
tears  of  blood.” 

The  country  was  of  course  in  desperate  straits 
and  could  ill  afford  to  lose,  for  three  years,  for  a 
mere  sentiment,  the  services  of  one  of  her  great- 
est and  most  powerful  statesmen.  However 
much  he  may  have  regretted  to  give  up  such  a 
brilliant  career  which  was  just  well  begun.  Yuan 
no  doubt  expected  to  do  so.  What  was  his  sur- 
prise therefore  to  receive  from  Her  Majesty  a 
message  of  condolence  in  which  she  praised  his 
mother  in  the  highest  terms  for  having  given  the 
world  such  a brilliant  and  able  son.  Under 
the  circumstances,  however,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  accept  his  resignation  as  his  services  to  the 
country  just  at  this  juncture  were  indispensable. 


Court  Life  in  China 


316 

She  would,  however,  appoint  a substitute  to  go 
into  mourning  for  him,  and  this  with  the  knowl- 
edge that  she  had  borne  a son  whose  services  were 
so  necessary  to  the  safety  of  the  government  and 
the  country,  would  be  a sufficient  comfort  to  the 
spirit  of  his  departed  mother,  and  Yuan  was 
forced  to  continue  in  his  official  position  as 
Governor  of  the  province  without  the  intermis- 
sion of  a single  day  of  mourning.  Such  is  the 
elasticity  and  adaptability  of  the  unchanging 
laws  and  customs  of  the  Oriental  when  in  the 
hands  of  a master — or  a mistress — like  Her 
Majesty  the  Empress  Dowager. 

One  can  imagine  that  in  proportion  as  the  Em- 
press Dowager  was  pleased  with  the  statesman- 
ship manifested  by  Yuan  Shih-kai  in  uninten- 
tionally reseating  her  upon  the  throne,  in  a like 
proportion  the  Emperor  would  be  dissatisfied 
with  it  as  being  the  cause  of  his  dethronement 
This  was  not,  however,  against  Yuan  alone  but 
against  the  father-in-law  of  the  present  Regent 
and  even  Prince  Ching  as  well.  During  the 
whole  ten  years,  from  1898  until  his  death,  while 
he  was  a prisoner  “his  heart  boiled  with  wrath  ” 
against  those  who  had  been  the  cause  of  his 
downfall. 

It  was  not  until  the  Boxer  troubles  of  1900 
were  over,  and  Yuan,  by  the  masterly  way  in 
which  he  had  disregarded  the  imperial  edicts, 
had  protected  and  preserved  the  lives  of  all  the 


Chinese  Princes  and  Officials  317 

foreigners  in  his  province,  keeping  peace  the 
while,  that  honours  began  to  be  heaped  upon 
him.  And  this  not  without  reason  as  we  shall 
proceed  to  show. 

In  1901  he  was  made  Governor-General  of  the 
metropolitan  province,  and  Junior  Guardian  of 
the  Heir  Apparent.  In  1902  he  was  decorated 
with  the  Yellow  Jacket,  placed  in  charge  of  the 
affairs  of  the  Northern  Railw'ay,  and  consulting 
minister  to  counsel  the  government.  Wherever 
he  was  he  gave  as  much  attention  to  the  city 
government  as  to  that  of  the  province  or  the  na- 
tion, and  in  spite  of  his  having  no  foreign  educa- 
tion himself,  he  began  building  up  a system  of 
public  schools  in  his  province  like  which  there  is 
nothing  else  in  the  whole  of  China.  Let  us  re- 
member also  that  during  all  this  time  there  was 
suspended  over  his  head,  from  the  palace,  a 
sword  of  Damocles  which  was  liable  to  fall  at 
any  time.  But  we  will  explain  that  further  on  as 
it  is  the  last  act  of  the  drama. 

When  Yuan  went  to  Tientsin  as  Viceroy  of  the 
metropolitan  province  he  found  there  Dr.  C.  D. 
Tenny,  the  president  of  the  Tientsin  University 
which  had  been  begun  by  Li  Hung-chang  some 
ten  or  a dozen  years  before.  It  had  a good  course 
of  study  and  was  turning  out  a large  number  of 
young  graduates  for  whom  there  ought  to  be  a 
better  future  than  that  of  interpreters  in  the  va- 
rious business  houses  of  that  and  other  cities.  He 


Court  Life  in  China 


318 

therefore  called  Dr.  Tenny  to  him  and  inquired 
particularly  about  the  system  of  public  school  edu- 
cation throughout  the  United  States. 

“ What  is  to  prevent  our  putting  into  operation 
such  a system  throughout  this  province  ? ” asked 
the  Viceroy. 

“ Nothing,”  answered  Dr.  Tenny,  “ except  to  be 
willing  to  submit  to  the  conditions.” 

“ And  what  are  those  conditions  ? ” asked  His 
Excellency. 

“ They  are  that  you  open  schools  in  every  im- 
portant town,  place  in  them  well-educated,  com- 
petent teachers,  whom  you  are  willing  to  pay  a 
salary  equal  to  what  they  may  reasonably  expect 
to  get  if  they  enter  business.” 

“ May  I ask  if  you  would  be  willing  to  under- 
take the  development  of  such  a system?”  he 
asked  further. 

“ On  one  condition,”  answered  Dr.  Tenny. 

“ And  what  is  that?  ” 

“ That  you  allow  me  to  open  a school  wherever 
I think  there  should  be  one,  call  my  teachers 
from  whatsoever  source  I please  to  call  them,  pay 
them  whatever  salary  I think  they  deserve,  send- 
ing all  the  bills  to  Your  Excellency,  and  you  pay 
them  without  question.” 

The  Viceroy  had  known  Dr.  Tenny  for  years, 
had  always  had  the  most  implicit  confidence  both 
in  his  ability  and  his  honesty,  and  so,  lightening 
up  his  duties  in  the  Tientsin  and  Paotingfu  Uni- 


Chinese  Princes  and  Officials 


319 


versifies,  he  commissioned  him  to  establish  what 
may  be  termed  the  first  public  school  system  of 
education  on  modern  lines  in  the  whole  empire. 
This  one  act,  if  he  had  done  no  other,  was  reason 
enough  for  a wise  regent  to  have  continued  him 
in  office  even  though  he  “ had  rheumatism  of  the 
leg.”  But  it  may  be  that  there  are  extenuating 
circumstances  in  this  act  of  the  Regent  as  we 
shall  point  out  later. 

There  is  one  phase  of  the  Boxer  uprising  that 
I have  never  yet  seen  properly  represented  in 
any  book  or  magazine.  We  all  know  how  the 
ministers  of  the  various  European  governments 
with  their  wives  and  children,  the  customs  of- 
ficials, missionaries,  business  men,  and  tourists 
who  happened  to  be  in  Peking  at  the  time,  with 
all  the  Chinese  Christians,  were  confined  in  the 
British  legation  and  Prince  Su’s  palace.  We 
know  how  they  barricaded  their  defense.  We 
know  how  they  were  fired  upon  day  and  night 
for  six  weeks  by  the  Boxer  leaders  and  the  army 
of  the  conservatives  under  the  leadership  of  their 
general,  Tung  Fu-hsiang.  But  the  thing  which 
we  do  not  know,  or  at  least  which  has  not  been 
adequately  told,  is  the  most  interesting  secret 
plot  of  the  liberal  progressives,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  “ Prince  Ching  and  others,”  to  thwart  the 
Empress  Dowager  and  the  Boxer  leaders,  the 
conservatives  and  their  army,  and  protect  the 
most  noted  company  of  prisoners  that  have  ever 


320 


Court  Life  in  China 


been  confined  in  a legation  quarter.  The  plot 
was  this : 

When  Prince  Ching  and  his  progressive  as- 
sociates in  Peking  discovered  that  they  could  not 
vote  down  the  Boxer  princes,  they  dared  not 
openly  oppose  them,  but  they  secretly  decided 
that  the  representatives  of  the  Powers  must  not 
be  massacred  else  the  doom  of  China  was  sealed. 
When  they  discovered  that  Yuan  Shih-kai 
and  the  other  great  viceroys  had  decided  by 
stratagem  to  foil  the  Boxers  even  though 
they  must  set  all  the  imperial  edicts  at  naught, 
they  decided,  for  the  sake  of  the  protection  of 
the  legations  and  the  preservation  of  the  empire, 
that  they  would  do  the  same.  They  secretly 
sent  supplies  of  food  to  the  besieged,  which  the 
latter  feared  to  use  lest  they  be  poisoned.  But 
more  than  that  they  kept  their  own  armies  in 
Peking  as  a guard  and  as  a final  resort  in  case 
there  was  danger  of  the  legation  being  over- 
come, and  as  a matter  of  fact  there  were  regular 
pitched  battles  between  the  troops  of  Prince 
Ching  and  his  associates  and  those  of  the  Boxer 
leader,  Tung  Fu-hsiang.  Had  the  Boxers  finally 
succeeded.  Yuan  Shih-kai  and  Prince  Ching  and 
their  associates  would  have  lost  their  heads,  but 
as  the  Boxers  failed  it  was  they  who  went  to 
their  graves  by  the  short  process  of  the  execu- 
tioner’s knife. 

So  Yuan  was  between  two  fires.  He  had  dis- 


Chinese  Princes  and  Officials  321 

obeyed  the  commands  of  the  Emperor  in  not 
coming  to  Peking  and  had  therefore  incurred  his 
displeasure  and  caused  his  downfall.  He  had 
disobeyed  the  Empress  Dowager  in  not  putting 
to  death  the  foreigners  in  his  province,  and  if 
the  Boxers  were  successful  he  would  surely  lose 
his  head  on  that  account.  The  Boxers,  however, 
were  not  successful  and  as  his  disobedience  had 
helped  to  save  the  empire.  Yuan,  so  long  as  the 
Dowager  remained  in  power,  was  safe. 

But  a day  of  reckoning  must  inevitably  come. 
The  Empress  Dowager  was  an  old  woman,  the 
Emperor  was  a young  man.  In  all  human 
probabilities  she  would  be  the  first  to  die,  while 
his  only  hope  was  in  her  outliving  the  Emperor, 
who  had  sworn  vengeance  on  all  those  who  had 
been  instrumental  in  his  imprisonment. 

I have  a friend  in  Peking  who  is  also  a friend 
of  one  of  the  greatest  Chinese  officials.  This 
official  has  gone  into  the  palace  daily  for  a 
dozen  years  past  and  knows  every  plot  and 
counterplot  that  has  been  hatched  in  that  nest  of 
seclusion  during  all  that  time,  though  he  has 
been  implicated  in  none  of  them.  He  has  held 
the  highest  positions  in  the  gift  of  the  empire 
without  ever  once  having  been  degraded.  One 
day  when  he  was  in  the  palace  the  Emperor  un- 
burdened his  heart  to  him,  thinking  that  what 
he  said  would  never  reach  the  ears  of  his 


enemies. 


322 


Court  Life  in  China 


“ You  have  no  idea,”  said  the  Emperor, 
“ what  I suffer  here.” 

“ Indeed  ? ” was  the  only  reply  of  the  official. 

“Yes,”  continued  the  Emperor,  “I  am  not  al- 
lowed to  speak  to  any  one  from  outside.  I am 
without  power,  without  companions,  and  even 
the  eunuchs  act  as  though  they  are  under  no 
obligations  to  respect  me.  The  position  of  the 
lowest  servant  in  the  palace  is  more  desirable 
than  mine.”  Then  lowering  his  voice  he  con- 
tinued, “ But  there  is  a day  of  reckoning  to 
come.  The  Empress  Dowager  cannot  live  for- 
ever, and  if  ever  I get  my  throne  again  I will 
see  to  it  that  those  who  put  me  here  will  suffer 
as  I have  done.” 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  this  conversation  of  the 
Emperor  reached  the  ears  of  Yuan  Shih-kai. 
Walls  have  ears  in  China.  Everything  has  ears, 
and  every  part  of  nature  has  a tongue.  If  so, 
here  was  the  occasion  for  the  last  plot  in  the 
drama  of  the  Emperor’s  life,  and  next  to  the  last 
in  the  official  life  of  Yuan  Shih-kai. 

The  problem  is  to  so  manipulate  the  laws  of 
nature  as  to  prevent  the  Emperor  outliving  the 
Empress  Dowager,  and  not  allow  the  world  to 
know  that  you  have  been  trifling  with  occult 
forces.  He  must  die  a natural  death,  a death 
which  is  above  suspicion.  He  must  not  die  one 
day  after  the  Empress  Dowager  as  that  would 
create  talk.  And  he  ought  to  die  some  time  be- 


Chinese  Princes  and  Officials  323 

fore  her.  The  death  fuse  is  one  which  often 
bums  very  much  longer  than  we  expect — 
was  it  not  one  of  the  English  kings  who  said  “ I 
fear  I am  a very  long  time  a-dying,  gentlemen  ” 
— and  sometimes  it  burns  out  sooner  than  is  in- 
tended. There  were  two  imperial  death  fuses 
burning  at  the  same  time  in  that  Forbidden  City 
of  Peking.  The  Empress  Dowager  had  “ had  a 
stroke.”  Hers  was  undoubtedly  nature’s  own 
work.  But  the  enemies  of  Yuan  Shih-kai  tell  us 
that  the  Emperor  had  “ had  a Chinese  doctor,” 
to  whom  the  great  Viceroy  paid  ^33,000  for  his 
services.  We  are  told  that  the  Empress  Dowager 
in  reality  died  first  and  then  the  Emperor,  though 
the  Emperor’s  death  was  first  announced,  and  the 
next  day  that  of  the  Dowager. 

What  then  are  we  to  infer?  That  the  Em- 
peror was  poisoned  ? Let  it  be  so.  That  is 
what  the  Japanese  believed  at  the  time.  But 
who  did  it  ? Most  assuredly  no  one  man.  One 
might  have  employed  a Chinese  physician  for 
him,  but  the  last  man  whose  physician  the  Em- 
peror would  have  accepted  would  have  been 
Yuan  Shih-kai’s.  Had  you  or  I been  ill  would 
we  have  allowed  the  man  who  was  the  cause  of 
our  fall  to  select  our  physician  ? But  granted 
that  Yuan  Shih-kai  did  employ  his  physician, 
and  that  his  death  was  the  result  of  slow  poison- 
ing, could  Yuan  Shih-kai  have  so  manipulated 
Prince  Ching,  the  Regent  (who  is  the  late  Em- 


3^4 


Court  Life  in  China 


peror’s  brother),  the  ladies  of  the  court,  and 
all  those  thousands  of  eunuchs,  to  remain  silent 
as  to  the  death  of  the  Empress  Dowager  until  he 
had  completed  the  slow  process  on  His  Majesty  ? 
No ! If  the  Emperor  was  poisoned — and  the 
world  believes  he  was — there  are  a number  of 
others  whose  skirts  are  as  badly  stained  as  those 
of  the  great  Viceroy,  or  long  ere  this  his  body 
would  have  been  sent  home  a headless  corpse 
instead  of  with  “ rheumatism  of  the  leg.” 

What  then  is  the  explanation  ? It  may  be  this, 
that  the  court,  and  the  officials  as  a whole,  felt 
that  the  Emperor  was  an  unsafe  person  to  resume 
the  throne,  and  that  it  were  better  that  one  man 
should  perish  than  that  the  whole  regime  should 
be  upset.  They  even  refused  to  allow  a foreign 
physician  to  go  in  to  see  him,  saying  that  of  his 
own  free  will  he  had  turned  again  to  the  Chinese, 
all  of  which  indicates  that  it  was  not  the  plot  of 
any  one  man. 

Why  then  should  Yuan  Shih-kai  have  been 
made  the  scapegoat  of  the  court  and  the  of- 
ficials, and  branded  as  a murderer  in  the  face  of 
the  whole  world  ? That  may  be  another  plot. 
The  radical  reformers,  followers  of  Kang  Yu-wei, 
have  been  making  such  a hubbub  about  the 
matter  ever  since  the  death  of  the  Emperor  and 
the  Empress  Dowager  that  somebody  had  to  be 
punished.  They  said  that  Yuan  had  been  a 
traitor  to  the  cause  of  reform,  that  he  had  not 


Chinese  Princes  and  Officials  325 

only  betrayed  his  sovereign  in  1898,  but  that  now 
he  had  encompassed  his  death. 

Now  to  satisfy  these  enemies,  the  Prince 
Regent  may  have  decided  that  the  best  thing  to 
do  was  to  dismiss  Yuan  for  a time.  I think 
that  the  trivial  excuse  he  gives  for  doing  so 
favours  my  theory — with  “ rheumatism  of  the 
leg,”  to  which  is  added,  “ Thus  our  clemency 
is  manifest  ” — a sentence  which  may  be  severe  or 
may  mean  nothing,  and  when  the  storm  has  blown 
over  and  the  sky  is  clear  again.  Yuan  may  be 
once  more  brought  to  the  front  as  Li  Hung- 
chang  and  others  have  been  in  the  past. 
Which  is  a consummation,  I think,  devoutly  to  be 
wished. 


XX 

Peking — The  City  of  the  Court 


The  position  of  Peking  at  the  present  time  is  one  of  pe- 
culiar interest,  for  all  the  different  forces  that  are  now  at 
work  to  make  or  mar  China  issue  from,  or  converge  to- 
wards, the  capital.  There,  on  the  dragon  throne,  be- 
side, or  rather  above,  the  powerless  and  unhappy  Emperor, 
the  father  of  his  people  and  their  god,  sits  the  astute  and 
ever-watchful  lady  whose  word  is  law  to  Emperor,  minister 
and  clown  alike.  There  dwell  the  heads  of  the  govern- 
ment boards,  the  leaders  of  the  Manchu  aristocracy,  and 
the  great  political  parties,  the  drafters  of  new  constitutions 
and  imperial  decrees,  and  the  keen-witted  diplomatists 
who  know  so  well  how  to  play  against  European  antag- 
onists the  great  game  of  international  chess. 

— R.  F.  Johnston  in  ''From  Peking  to  MandelayF 


XX 


PEKING— THE  CITY  OF  THE  COURT 

IN  the  place  where  Peking  now  stands  there 
has  been  a city  for  three  thousand  years. 
Five  centuries  before  Christ  it  was  the 
capital  of  a small  state,  but  was  destroyed  three 
centuries  later  by  the  builder  of  the  great  w^all. 
It  was  soon  rebuilt,  however,  and  has  continued 
from  that  time  until  the  present,  with  varied 
fortunes,  as  the  capital  of  a state,  the  chief  city  of 
a department,  or  the  dwelling-place  of  the  court. 

It  is  the  greatest  and  best  preserved  walled 
city  in  the  empire,  if  not  in  the  world.  The 
Tartar  City  is  sixteen  miles  in  circumference,  sur- 
rounded by  a wall  sixty  feet  thick  at  the  bottom, 
fifty  feet  thick  at  the  top  and  forty  feet  high,  with 
six  feet  of  balustrade  on  the  outside,  beautifully 
crenelated  and  loopholed,  and  in  a good  state 
of  preservation.  The  streets  are  sixty  feet  wide, — 
or  even  more  in  places, — well  macadamized,  and 
lit  with  electric  light.  The  chief  mode  of  con- 
veyance is  the  ’ricksha,  though  carriages  may 
be  hired  by  the  week,  day  or  hour  at  various 
livery  stables  in  proximity  to  the  hotels,  which, 
by  the  way,  furnish  as  good  accommodation  to 
their  guests  as  the  hotels  of  other  Oriental  cities. 

329 


330 


Court  Life  in  China 


In  the  centre  of  the  Tartar  City  is  the  Imperial 
City,  eight  miles  in  circumference,  encircled  by  a 
wall  six  feet  thick  and  fifteen  feet  high,  pierced 
by  four  gates  at  the  points  of  the  compass ; and 
in  the  centre  of  this  again  is  the  Forbidden  City, 
occupying  less  than  half  a square  mile,  the  home 
of  the  court. 

Fairs  are  held,  at  various  temples,  fourteen 
days  of  every  month,  distributed  in  such  a way 
as  to  bring  them  almost  on  alternate  days,  while 
at  certain  times  there  are  two  fairs  on  the  same 
day.  It  is  a mistake  to  suppose  that  the  Chinese 
women  in  the  capital  are  very  much  secluded. 
They  may  be  seen  on  the  streets  at  almost  any 
time,  while  the  temple  courts  and  adjacent 
streets,  on  fair  days,  are  crowded  with  women 
and  girls,  dressed  in  the  most  gorgeous  colours, 
their  hair  decorated  with  all  kinds  of  artificial 
flowers,  followed  by  little  boys  and  girls  as  gaily 
dressed  as  themselves.  Here  they  find  all  kinds 
of  toys,  curios,  and  articles  of  general  use,  from 
a top  to  a broom,  from  bits  of  jade  or  other  pre- 
cious stones,  to  a snuff  bottle  hollowed  out  of  a 
solid  quartz  crystal,  or  a market  basket  or  a 
dust-pan  made  of  reeds. 

Peking  being  the  city  of  the  court,  and  the 
headquarters  of  many  of  the  greatest  officials,  is 
the  receptacle  of  the  finest  products  of  the  oldest 
and  greatest  non-Christian  people  the  world  has 
ever  known.  China  easily  leads  the  world  in 


HATAMEN  STREET  BEFORE  MACADAMIZING 


Peking — The  City  of  the  Court  331 

the  making  of  porcelain,  the  best  of  which  has 
always  gone  to  Peking  for  use  in  the  palace,  and 
so  we  can  find  here  the  best  products  of  every 
reign  from  the  time  of  Kang  Hsi,  as  well  as  those 
of  the  former  dynasties,  to  that  of  Kuang  Hsu  and 
the  Empress  Dowager.  The  same  is  true  of  her 
brass  and  bronze  incense-burners  and  images, 
her  wood  and  ivory  carvings,  her  beautiful  em- 
broideries, her  magnificent  tapestries,  and  her 
paintings  by  old  masters  of  six  or  eight  hundred 
years  ago.  Here  we  can  find  the  finest  Oriental 
rugs,  in  a good  state  of  preservation,  with  the 
“ tone  ” that  only  age  can  give,  made  long  be- 
fore the  time  of  Washington. 

There  is  no  better  market  for  fine  bits  of  em- 
broidery, mandarin  coats,  and  all  the  better 
products  of  needle,  silk  and  floss,  of  which  the 
Chinese  have  been  masters  for  centuries,  than  the 
city  of  the  court.  The  population  consists  largely 
of  great  officials  and  their  families,  whose  cast- 
off clothing,  toned  down  by  the  use  of  years, 
often  without  a blemish  or  a spot,  finds  its  way 
into  the  hands  of  dealers.  The  finest  furs, — seal, 
otter,  squirrel,  sable  and  ermine, — are  brought 
from  Siberia,  Manchuria  and  elsewhere,  for  the 
officials  and  the  court,  and  can  be  secured  for 
less  than  half  what  they  would  cost  in  America. 
Pearls,  of  which  the  Chinese  ladies  and  the  court 
are  more  fond  than  of  diamonds,  may  be  found 
in  abundance  in  all  the  bazars,  which  are  many, 


332  Court  Life  in  China 

and  judging  from  the  way  they  are  purchased 
by  tourists,  are  both  cheaper  and  better  than 
elsewhere. 

The  Chinese  have  little  appreciation  of  dia- 
monds as  jewelry.  On  one  occasion  there  was 
offered  to  me  a beautiful  ring  containing  a large 
sapphire  encircled  by  twenty  diamonds.  When  I 
offered  the  dealer  less  than  he  asked  for  it,  he 
said ; “No,  rather  than  sell  it  for  that  price,  I 
will  tear  it  apart,  and  sell  the  diamonds  sepa- 
rately for  drill-points  to  the  tinkers  who  mend 
dishes.  I can  make  more  from  it  in  that 
way,  only  I dislike  to  spoil  the  ring.”  The 
Empress  Dowager  during  her  late  years,  and 
many  of  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  more 
progressive  type,  affected,  whether  genuinely  or 
not,  an  appreciation  of  the  diamond  as  a piece 
of  jewelry,  especially  in  the  form  of  rings, 
though  coloured  stones,  polished,  but  not  cut, 
have  always  been  more  popular  with  the  Chinese. 
The  turquoise,  the  emerald,  the  sapphire,  the  ruby 
and  the  other  precious  stones  with  colour  have, 
therefore,  always  graced  the  tables  of  the  bazars 
in  the  capital,  while  the  diamond  until  very  re- 
cently was  relegated  to  the  point  of  the  tinker’s 
drill. 

There  is  another  method  of  bringing  bits  of 
their  ancient  handiwork  to  the  capital  which 
most  of  those  living  in  Peking,  even,  know  noth- 
ing about.  A company,  whose  headquarters  is 


Peking — The  City  of  the  Court  333 

at  an  inn,  called  the  Hsing  Lung  Tien,  sends 
agents  all  over  the  empire,  to  purchase  and 
bring  to  them  everything  in  the  nature  of  a curio, 
whether  porcelain,  painting,  embroidery,  pottery 
or  even  an  ancient  tile  or  inkstone,  which  they 
then,  at  public  auction,  sell  to  the  dealers.  The 
sale  is  at  noon  each  day.  The  first  time  I visited 
it  was  with  a friend  from  Iowa  who  was  anxious 
to  get  some  unique  bits  of  porcelain.  The  auc- 
tioneer does  not  “ cry  ” the  wares.  Neither 
buyer  nor  seller  says  a word.  Nobody  knows 
what  anybody  else  has  offered.  The  goods  are 
passed  out  of  a closed  room  from  a high  window 
where  the  crowd  can  see  them,  and  then  each 
one  wanting  them  tries  to  be  first  in  securing  the 
hand  of  the  auctioneer,  which  is  ensconced  in 
his  long  sleeve,  where,  by  squeezing  his  fingers, 
they  tell  him  how  much  they  will  give  for  the 
particular  piece.  It  is  the  only  real  case  of 
“ talking  in  the  sleeve  ” I have  ever  seen,  and 
each  piece  is  sold  to  the  first  person  offering  a 
fair  profit  on  the  money  invested,  though  he 
might  get  much  more  by  allowing  them  to  bid 
against  each  other. 

Among  the  attractive  sights  in  Peking,  none 
are  quite  so  interesting  as  the  places  where  His 
Majesty  worships,  and  of  these  the  most  beauti- 
ful in  architecture,  the  grandest  in  conception, 
and  the  one  laid  out  on  the  most  magnificent 
scale,  is  the  Temple  of  Heaven. 


334 


Court  Life  in  China 


Think  of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  valuable 
city  property  being  set  aside  for  the  grounds  of 
a single  temple,  as  compared  with  the  way  our 
own  great  churches  are  crowded  into  small  city 
lots  of  scarcely  as  many  square  feet,  and  over- 
shadowed by  great  business  blocks  costing  a 
hundred  times  as  much,  and  we  can  get  some 
conception  of  the  magnificence  of  the  scale  on 
which  this  temple  is  laid  out.  A large  part  of 
the  grounds  is  covered  with  cedars,  many  of 
which  are  not  less  than  five  hundred  years  old, 
while  other  parts  are  used  to  pasture  a flock  of 
black  cattle  from  which  they  select  the  sacrifice 
for  a burnt  offering.  The  grounds  are  not  well 
kept  like  those  of  our  own  parks  and  churches, 
but  the  original  conception  of  a temple  on  such  a 
large  scale  is  worthy  of  a great  people. 

The  worship  at  this  temple  is  the  most  impor- 
tant of  all  the  religious  observances  of  the  em- 
pire, and  constitutes  a most  interesting  remnant 
of  the  ancient  monotheistic  cultus  which  pre- 
vailed in  China  before  the  rationalism  of  Confu- 
cius and  the  polytheistic  superstition  of  Buddhism 
predominated  among  the  people.  While  the 
ceremonies  of  the  sacrifices  are  very  complicated, 
they  are  kept  with  the  strictest  severity.  The 
chief  of  these  is  at  the  winter  solstice.  On  De- 
cember 2 1 St  the  Emperor  goes  in  a sedan  chair, 
covered  with  yellow  silk,  and  carried  by  thirty- 
two  men,  preceded  by  a band  of  musicians,  and 


Peking — The  City  of  the  Court  335 

followed  by  an  immense  retinue  of  princes  and 
officials  on  horseback.  He  first  goes  to  the  tab- 
let-chapel, where  he  offers  incense  to  Shang  Ti, 
the  God  above,  and  to  his  ancestors,  with  three 
kneelings  and  nine  prostrations.  Then  going  to 
the  great  altar  he  inspects  the  offerings,  after 
which  he  repairs  to  the  Palace  of  Abstinence, 
where  he  spends  the  night  in  fasting  and  prayer. 
The  next  morning  at  5 : 45  A.  M.  he  dons  his  sac- 
rificial robes,  proceeds  to  the  open  altar,  where 
he  kneels  and  burns  incense,  offers  a prayer  to 
Shang  Ti,  and  incense  to  his  ancestors  whose 
shrines  and  tablets  are  arranged  on  the  northeast 
and  northwest  portions  of  the  altar. 

There  are  two  altars  in  the  temple,  a quarter 
of  a mile  apart,  the  covered  and  the  open  altar, 
and  this  latter  is  one  of  the  grandest  religious 
conceptions  of  the  human  mind.  It  is  a triple 
circular  marble  terrace,  210  feet  wide  at  the  base, 
150  feet  in  the  middle,  and  ninety  feet  at  the  top, 
ascended  at  the  points  of  the  compass  by  three 
flights  of  nine  steps  each.  A circular  stone  is  in 
the  centre  of  the  top,  around  which  are  nine 
stones  in  the  first  circle,  eighteen  in  the  second, 
twenty -seven  in  the  third,  etc.,  and  eighty-one  in 
the  ninth,  or  last  circle.  The  Emperor  kneels  on 
the  circular  stone,  surrounded  by  the  circles  of 
stones,  then  by  the  circles  of  the  terraces,  and  fi- 
nally by  the  horizon,  and  thus  seems  to  himself 
and  his  retinue  to  be  in  the  centre  of  the  universe. 


336  Court  Life  in  China 

his  only  walls  being  the  skies,  and  his  only  cov- 
ering, the  shining  dome. 

There  are  no  images  of  any  kind  connected 
with  the  temple  or  the  worship,  the  only  offerings 
being  a bullock,  the  various  productions  of  the 
soil,  and  a cylindrical  piece  of  jade  about  a foot 
long,  formerly  used  as  a symbol  of  sovereignty. 
Twelve  bundles  of  cloth  are  offered  to  Heaven, 
and  only  one  to  each  of  the  emperors,  and  to  the 
sun  and  moon.  The  bullocks  must  be  two  years 
old,  the  best  of  their  kind,  without  blemish,  and 
while  they  were  formerly  killed  by  the  Emperor 
they  are  now  slaughtered  by  an  official  appointed 
for  that  purpose. 

The  covered  altar  is,  I think,  the  most  beauti- 
ful piece  of  architecture  in  China.  It  is  smaller 
than  the  one  already  described  but  has  erected 
upon  it  a lofty,  circular  triple-roofed  temple 
ninety-nine  feet  in  height,  roofed  with  blue  tiles, 
the  eaves  painted  in  brilliant  colours  and  pro- 
tected from  the  birds  by  a wire  netting.  In  the 
centre,  immediately  in  front  of  the  altar,  is  a cir- 
cular stone,  as  in  the  open  altar.  The  ceiling  is 
covered  with  gilded  dragons  in  high  relief,  and 
the  whole  is  supported  by  immense  pillars.  It 
was  this  building  that  was  struck  by  lightning  in 
1890,  but  it  was  restored  during  the  ten  years 
that  followed.  Being  made  the  camp  of  the 
British  during  the  occupation  of  1900,  it  received 
some  small  injuries  from  curio  seekers,  but  none 


Peking — The  City  of  the  Court  337 

of  any  consequence.  The  Sikh  soldiers  who  died 
during  this  period  were  cremated  in  the  furnace 
connected  with  the  open  altar. 

The  Chinese  have  been  an  agricultural  people 
for  thirty  centuries  or  more,  and  this  character- 
istic is  embodied  in  the  Temple  of  Agriculture, 
w'hich  occupies  a park  of  not  less  than  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  of  city  property  opposite 
the  Temple  of  Heaven.  It  has  four  great  altars, 
with  their  adjacent  halls,  to  the  spirits  of  Heaven, 
Earth,  the  Year,  and  the  Ancestral  Husbandman, 
Shen  Nung,  to  whom  the  temple  is  dedicated. 
It  was  used  as  the  camp  of  the  American  soldiers 
in  1900,  and  was  well  cared  for.  At  one  time 
some  of  the  soldiers  upset  one  of  the  urns,  and 
when  it  was  reported  to  the  officer  in  command, 
the  whole  company  was  called  out  and  the  urn 
properly  replaced,  after  which  the  men  were  lec- 
tured on  the  matter  of  injuring  any  property  be- 
longing to  the  temple. 

There  are  several  large  plots  of  ground  in  this 
enclosure,  one  of  which  the  Emperor  ploughs, 
while  another  is  marked  “ City  Magistrate,”  an- 
other “ Prefect,”  and  on  these  bits  of  land  the 
“ five  kinds  of  grain  ” are  sown.  One  cannot 
view  these  imperial  temples  without  being  im- 
pressed with  the  potential  greatness  of  a people 
who  do  things  on  such  a magnificent  scale.  But 
one,  at  the  same  time,  also  feels  that  these 
temples,  and  the  great  Oriental  religions  which 


338  Court  Life  in  China 

inspire  and  support  them  have  failed  in  a meas- 
ure to  accomplish  their  design,  which  ought  to 
be  to  educate  and  develop  the  people.  This 
they  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  done,  especially 
if  we  consider  their  condition  in  their  lack  of 
all  phases  of  scientific  development,  for  as  the 
sciences  stand  to-day  they  are  all  the  product  of 
the  Christian  peoples. 

There  are  three  other  imperial  temples  on  the 
same  large  scale  as  those  just  described.  The 
Temple  of  the  Sun  east  of  the  city,  that  of  the 
Moon  on  the  west,  and  that  of  the  Earth  on  the 
north,  though  it  must  be  confessed  that  the 
worship  at  these  has  been  allowed  to  lapse.  In 
the  Tartar  City  there  are  two  others,  the 
Lama  Temple  and  the  Confucian  Temple,  in 
the  former  of  which  there  is  a statue  of  Buddha 
seventy-five  feet  high,  and  from  thirteen  to  fifteen 
hundred  priests  who  worship  daily  at  his  shrine. 
This  statue  is  made  of  stucco,  over  a framework, 
and  not  of  wood  as  some  have  told  us,  and  as 
the  guide  will  assure  us  at  the  present  day.  One 
can  ascend  to  a level  with  its  head  by  several 
flights  of  stairs,  where  a lamp  is  lit  when  the 
Emperor  visits  the  temple.  In  the  east  wing  of 
this  same  building  is  a prayer-wheel,  which 
reaches  up  through  several  successive  stories, 
and  is  kept  in  motion  while  the  Emperor  is 
present. 

In  the  east  side  buildings  there  are  a few  in- 


Peking — The  City  of  the  Court  339 

teresting,  though  in  some  cases  very  disgusting 
idols,  such  for  instance  as  those  illustrating  the 
creation,  but  over  these  draperies  have  been 
thrown  during  recent  years,  which  make  them  a 
trifle  more  respectable. 

The  temple  is  very  imposing.  At  the  entrance 
there  are  two  large  arches  covered  with  yellow 
tiles,  from  which  a broad  paved  court  leads  to 
the  front  gate,  on  the  two  sides  of  which  are  the 
residences  of  the  Lamas  or  Mongol  priests.  At 
the  hour  of  prayer,  which  is  about  nine  o’clock, 
they  may  be  seen  going  in  crowds,  clothed  in 
yellow  robes,  to  the  various  halls  of  worship 
where  they  chant  their  prayers. 

Very  different  from  this  is  the  Confucian 
Temple  only  a quarter  of  a mile  away.  Here 
we  find  neither  priest  nor  idol — nothing  but  a 
small  board  tablet  to  “ Confucius,  the  teacher  of 
ten  thousand  ages  ” with  those  of  his  most  faith- 
ful and  worthy  disciples.  In  the  court  on  each 
side  are  rows  of  buildings — that  on  the  east  con- 
taining the  tablets  of  seventy-eight  virtuous  men  ; 
that  on  the  west  the  tablets  of  fifty-four  learned 
men  ; eighty-six  of  these  were  pupils  of  the  Sage, 
while  the  remainder  were  men  who  accepted  his 
teachings.  No  Taoists,  however  learned ; no 
Buddhists,  however  pure ; no  original  thinkers, 
however  great  may  have  been  their  following, 
are  allowed  a place  here.  It  is  a Temple  of 
Fame  for  Confucianists  alone. 


340 


Court  Life  in  China 


I have  been  in  this  temple  when  a whole  bul- 
lock, the  skin  and  entrails  having  been  removed, 
was  kneeling  upon  a table  facing  the  tablet  of 
the  Sage,  while  sheep  and  pigs  were  similarly- 
arranged  facing  the  tablets  of  his  disciples. 

For  twenty-four  centuries  China  has  had 
Taoism  preached  within  her  dominions ; for 
twenty-three  centuries  she  has  worshipped  at 
the  shrine  of  Confucius ; for  eighteen  centuries 
she  has  had  Buddhism,  and  for  twelve  centuries 
Mohammedanism  : and  during  all  this  time  if  we 
believe  the  statements  of  her  own  people,  she  has 
slept.  Does  it  not  therefore  seem  significant, 
that  less  than  a century  after  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  had  been  preached  to  her  people,  and  the 
Bible  circulated  freely  throughout  her  dominions, 
she  opened  her  court  to  the  world,  began  to  build 
railroads,  open  mines,  erect  educational  institu- 
tions, adopt  the  telegraph  and  the  telephone,  and 
step  into  line  with  the  industrial  methods  of  the 
most  progressive  nations  of  the  Western  world  ? 


HATAMEN  STREET  AS  IT  IS  TODAY 


XXI 

The  Death  of  Kuang  Hsii  and  the 
Empress  Dowager 


Who  ^knows  whether  the  Dowager  Empress  will  ever  re- 
pose in  the  magnificent  tomb  she  has  built  for  herself  at 
such  a cost,  or  whether  a new  dynasty  may  not  rifle  its 
riches  to  embellish  its  own  ? T ze-Hsi  is  growing  old  ! 
According  to  nature’s  immutable  law  her  faculties  must 
soon  fail  her ; her  iron  will  must  bend  and  her  far-seeing 
eye  grow  dim,  and  after  her  who  will  resist  the  tide  of 
foreign  aggression  and  stem  the  torrent  of  inward  revolt  ? 

— Lady  Susan  Townley  in  “ My  Chinese  Note  Book." 


XXI 


THE  DEATH  OF  KUANG  HSU  AND  THE 
EMPRESS  DOWAGER 

During  mid-November  of  1908  the  For- 
bidden City  of  Peking  was  a blind  stage 
before  which  an  expectant  world  sat  as 
an  audience.  It  had  not  long  to  wait,  for  on  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  it  learned  that  Kuang  Hsii 
and  the  Empress  Dowager,  less  than  twenty-four 
hours  apart,  had  taken  “ the  fairy  ride  and  as- 
cended upon  the  dragon  to  be  guests  on  high.” 
The  world  looked  on  in  awe.  It  expected  a dem- 
onstration if  not  a revolution  but  nothing  of  the 
kind  happened.  But  on  the  other  hand  one  of 
the  most  difficult  diplomatic  problems  of  her 
history  was  solved  in  a quiet  and  peaceable,  if 
not  a statesmanlike  way,  by  the  aged  Dowager 
and  her  officials,  and  China  once  more  had  upon 
her  throne  an  emperor,  though  only  a child,  about 
whose  succession  there  was  no  question.  And 
all  this  was  done  with  less  commotion  than  is 
caused  by  the  election  of  a mayor  in  New  York 
or  Chicago,  which  may  or  may  not  be  to  the 
credit  of  an  absolute  monarchy  over  a republican 
form  of  government. 


343 


344 


Court  Life  in  China 


The  world  has  speculated  a good  deal  as  to 
what  happened  in  the  Forbidden  City  of  Peking 
during  the  early  half  of  November.  Will  the 
curious  world  ever  know  ? Whether  it  will  or 
not  remains  for  the  future  to  determine.  We 
have,  however,  the  edicts  issued  to  the  foreign 
legations  at  Peking  and  with  these  at  the  present 
we  must  be  content.  From  them  we  learn  that 
it  was  the  Empress  Dowager  and  not  Kuang 
Hsii  who  appointed  Prince  Chiin  as  Regent,  and 
that  this  appointment  was  made — or  at  least  an- 
nounced— twenty-four  hours  before  the  death  of 
the  Emperor. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  November  the  foreign 
diplomatic  representatives  received  the  following 
edict  from  the  great  Dowager  through  the 
regular  channel  of  the  Foreign  Office  of  which 
Prince  Ching  was  the  president : 


“ It  is  the  excellent  will  of  Tze-hsi-kuan-yu- 
k’ang-  i-chao-yu-chuang-ch’eng-shou-kung-ch’in- 
hsien-chung-hsi,  the  great  Empress  Dowager, 
that  Tsai  Feng,  Prince  of  Chiin,  be  appointed 
Prince  Regent  {She  Chang-wang)." 


The  above  edict  was  soon  followed  by  another 
which  stated  that  “ Pu  I,  the  son  of  Tsai  Feng, 
should  be  reared  in  the  palace  and  taught  in  the 
imperial  schoolroom,”  an  indication  that  he  was  to 
be  the  next  emperor,  and  that  Tsai  Feng  and  not 


345 


The  Death  of  Kuang  Hsu 

Kuang  Hsii  was  to  occupy  the  throne,  and  all  this 
by  the  “ excellent  will  ” of  the  Empress  Dowager. 

On  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth  the  following 
edict  came  from  the  Emperor  himself ; 

“ From  the  beginning  of  August  of  last  year, 
our  health  has  been  poor.  We  formerly  ordered 
the  Tartar  generals,  viceroys,  and  governors  of 
every  province  to  recommend  physicians  of 
ability.  Thereupon  the  viceroys  of  Chihli,  the 
Liang  Kiang,  Hu  Kiang,  Kiangsu  and  Chekiang 
recommended  and  sent  forward  Chen  Ping-chun, 
Tsao  Yuen- wan g,  Lu  Yung-ping,  Chow  Ching- 
tao,  Tu  Chung-chun,  Shih  Huan,  and  Chang 
Pang-nien,  who  came  to  Peking  and  treated  us. 
But  their  prescriptions  have  given  no  relief.  Now 
the  negative  and  positive  elements  (Yin-Yang) 
are  both  failing.  There  are  ailments  both  exter- 
nal and  internal,  and  the  breath  is  stopped  up, 
the  stomach  rebellious,  the  back  and  legs  pain- 
ful, appetite  failing.  On  moving,  the  breath 
fails  and  there  is  coughing  and  panting.  Be- 
sides, we  have  chills  and  fever,  cannot  sleep,  and 
experience  a general  failure  of  bodily  strength 
which  is  hard  to  bear. 

“ Our  heart  is  very  impatient  and  now  the 
Tartar  generals,  viceroys,  and  governors  of 
every  province  are  ordered  to  select  capable 
physicians,  regardless  of  the  official  rank,  and  to 
send  them  quickly  to  Peking  to  await  summons 
to  give  medical  aid.  If  any  can  show  beneficial 


Court  Life  in  China 


346 

results  he  will  receive  extraordinary  rewards,  and 
the  Tartar  generals,  viceroys,  and  governors 
who  recommend  them  will  receive  special  grace. 
Let  this  be  published.” 

This  was  followed  on  the  same  day  by  the  fol- 
lowing edict : 

“ Inasmuch  as  the  Emperor  Tung  Chih  had 
no  issue,  on  the  fifth  day  of  the  twelfth  moon  of 
that  reign  (January  12,  1875)  an  edict  was  pro- 
mulgated to  the  effect  that  if  the  late  Emperor 
Kuang  Hsii  should  have  a son,  the  said  prince 
should  carry  on  the  succession  as  the  heir  of 
Tung  Chih.  But  now  the  late  Emperor  has 
ascended  upon  the  dragon  to  be  a guest  on 
high,  leaving  no  son,  and  there  is  no  course 
open  but  to  appoint  Pu  I,  the  son  of  Tsai  Feng, 
the  Prince  Regent,  as  the  successor  to  Tung 
Chih  and  also  as  heir  to  the  Emperor  Kuang 
Hsii.” 

The  next  day — the  fifteenth — another  edict, 
purporting  to  come  from  little  Pu  I,  but  tran- 
scribed by  Prince  Ching,  was  sent  out  to  the 
diplomatic  body  and  to  the  world.  It  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

“ I have  the  honour  to  inform  Your  Excellency 
that  on  the  21st  day  of  the  loth  moon  [Nov.  14, 
1908]  at  [5:7?.  M.]  the  late  Emperor 

ascended  on  the  dragon  to  be  a guest  on  high. 
We  have  received  the  command  of  Tze-hsi,  etc., 
the  Great  Empress  Dowager  to  enter  on  the  sue- 


PRINCE  CHUN  WITH  THE  EMPEROR  PU  I 
ON  HIS  LEFT 


347 


The  Death  of  Kuang  Hsii 

cession  as  Emperor.  We  lamented  to  Earth 
and  Heaven.  We  stretched  out  our  hands, 
wailing  our  insufficiency.  Prostrate  we  reflect 
on  how  the  late  Emperor  occupied  the  Imperial 
Throne  for  thirty-four  years,  reverently  following 
the  customs  of  his  ancestors,  receiving  the 
gracious  instruction  of  the  Empress  Dowager, 
exerting  himself  to  the  utmost,  not  failing  one 
day  to  revere  Heaven  and  observe  the  laws  of 
his  ancestors,  devoting  himself  with  diligence  to 
the  affairs  of  government  and  loving  the  people, 
appointing  the  virtuous  to  office,  changing  the 
laws  of  the  land  to  make  the  country  power- 
ful, considering  new  methods  of  government 
which  arouse  the  admiration  of  both  Chinese 
and  foreigners.  All  who  have  blood  and  breath 
cannot  but  mourn  and  be  moved  to  the  extreme 
point.  We  weep  tears  of  blood  and  beat  upon 
our  heart.  How  can  we  bear  to  express  our 
feelings  ! 

“ But  we  think  upon  our  heavy  responsibility 
and  our  weakness,  and  we  must  depend  upon 
the  great  and  small  civil  and  military  officials  of 
Peking  and  the  provinces  to  show  public  spirit 
and  patriotism,  and  aid  in  the  government.  The 
viceroys  and  governors  should  harmonize  the 
people  and  arrange  carefully  methods  of  govern- 
ment to  comfort  the  spirit  of  the  late  Emperor  in 
heaven.  This  is  our  earnest  expectation.” 

On  the  sixteenth  day  of  November,  three  days 


Court  Life  in  China 


348 

after  she  had  appointed  the  regent,  and  two  days 
after  she  had  appointed  Pu  I,  the  diplomatic  rep- 
resentatives received  the  following  from  Prince 
Ching : 

“ Your  Excellency : 

“ I have  the  honour  to  inform  Your  Excellency 
that  we  have  reverently  received  the  following 
testamentary  statement  of  Her  Imperial  Majesty 
Tze-hsi,  etc.,  the  Great  Empress  Dowager: 

“ ‘ Although  of  scanty  merit,  I received  the 
command  of  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  Wen 
Tsung-hsien  (the  posthumous  title  of  Hsien  Feng) 
to  occupy  a throne  prepared  for  me  in  the  pal- 
ace. When  the  Emperor  Mu  Tsung  I (Tung 
Chih)  as  a child  succeeded  to  the  throne,  vio- 
lence and  confusion  prevailed.  It  was  a critical 
period  of  suppression  by  force.  “ Long-hairs  ” 
(Tai-ping  rebels)  and  the  “twisted  turbans” 
(Nien  Fei)  were  in  rebellion.  The  Moham- 
medans and  the  aborigines  had  commenced  to 
make  ti'ouble.  There  were  many  disturbances 
along  the  seacoast.  The  people  were  destitute. 
Ulcers  and  sores  met  the  eye  on  every  side. 
Cooperating  with  the  Empress  Dowager  Hsiao 
Chen-hsien,  I supported  and  taught  the  Em- 
peror and  toiled  day  and  night.  According  to 
the  instructions  contained  in  the  testamentary 
counsels  of  the  Emperor  Wen  Tsung-hsien 
(Hsien  Feng)  I urged  on  the  officials  of  Peking 
and  the  provinces  and  all  the  military  com- 


349 


The  Death  of  Kuang  Hsu 

manders,  determining  the  policy  to  be  followed, 
diligently  searching  the  right  way  of  governing, 
choosing  the  upright  for  official  positions,  res- 
cuing from  calamity  and  pitying  the  people,  and 
so  obtained  the  protection  of  Heaven,  gaining 
peace  and  tranquillity  instead  of  distress  and 
danger.  Then  the  Emperor  Mu  Tsung  I (Tung 
Chih)  departed  this  life  and  the  late  Emperor 
succeeded  to  the  throne.  The  times  became 
still  harder  and  the  people  in  still  greater  straits, 
sorrow  within  and  calamity  without,  confusion 
and  noise  ; I had  no  recourse  but  to  give  instruc- 
tion in  government  once  more. 

“ ‘ The  year  before  last  the  preparatory  meas- 
ures for  the  institution  of  constitutional  govern- 
ment were  published.  This  year  the  time  limits 
for  the  measures  preparatory  to  constitutional 
government  have  been  promulgated.  Attending 
to  these  myriad  affairs  the  strength  of  my  heart 
has  been  exhausted.  Fortunately  my  constitu- 
tion was  originally  strong  and  up  to  the  present 
I have  stood  the  strain.  Unexpectedly  from  the 
summer  and  autumn  of  this  year  I have  been  ill 
and  have  not  been  able  to  assist  in  the  multi- 
tudinous affairs  of  government  with  tranquillity. 
Appetite  and  the  power  to  sleep  have  gone. 
This  has  continued  for  a long  time  until  my 
strength  is  exhausted  and  I have  not  dared  to 
rest  for  even  a day.  On  the  21st  of  this  moon 
[November  14th]  came  the  sorrow  of  the  death 


350 


Court  Life  in  China 


of  the  late  Emperor,  and  I was  unable  to  control 
myself,  so  that  my  illness  increased  till  I was  un- 
able to  rise  from  my  bed.  I look  back  upon  our 
fifty  years  of  sorrow  and  trouble.  I have  been 
continually  in  a state  of  high  tension  without  a 
moment’s  respite.  Now  a reform  in  the  method 
of  government  has  been  commenced  and  there 
begins  to  be  a clue  to  follow.  The  Emperor  now 
succeeding  to  the  throne  is  in  his  infancy.  All 
depends  upon  his  instruction  and  guidance. 
The  Prince  Regent  and  all  the  officials  of  Peking 
and  the  provinces  should  exert  themselves  to 
strengthen  the  foundations  of  our  empire.  Let 
the  Emperor  now  succeeding^  to  the  throne 
make  his  country’s  affairs  of  first  importance  and 
moderate  his  sorrow,  diligently  attending  to  his 
studies  so  that  he  may  in  future  illustrate  the  in- 
struction which  he  has  received.  This  is  my 
devout  hope.  Let  the  mourning  period  be  for 
twenty-seven  days  only.  Let  this  be  proclaimed 
to  the  empire  that  all  may  know.’  ” 

Still  one  more  edict  was  necessary  to  complete 
this  remarkable  list,  and  this  was  sent  to  the 
legations  on  the  17th  of  November.  It  is  as 
follows : 

“ I have  the  honour  to  inform  Your  Excellency 
that  on  the  22d  of  the  moon  [November  15,  1908] 
I reverently  received  the  following  edict : 

“ We  received  in  our  early  childhood  the  love 
and  care  of  Tze-hsi,  etc.,  the  Great  Empress 


351 


The  Death  of  Kuang  HsQ 

Dowager.  Our  gratitude  is  boundless.  We 
have  received  the  command  to  succeed  to  the 
throne  and  we  fully  expected  that  the  gentle 
Empress  Dowager  would  be  vigorous  and  reach 
a hundred  years  so  that  we  might  be  cherished 
and  made  glad  and  reverently  receive  her  in- 
structions so  that  our  government  might  be 
established  and  the  state  made  firm.  But  her 
toil  by  day  and  night  gradually  weakened  her. 
Medicine  was  constantly  administered  in  the 
hope  that  she  might  recover.  Contrary  to  our 
hopes,  on  the  21st  day  of  the  moon  [November 
14th]  at  the  wei-Jio  [1:3  P.  M.]  she  took  the 
fairy  ride  and  ascended  to  the  far  country.  We 
cried  out  and  mourned  how  frantically!  We 
learn  from  her  testamentary  statement  that  the 
period  of  full  mourning  is  to  be  limited  to  twenty- 
seven  days.  We  certainly  cannot  be  satisfied 
with  this.  Full  mourning  must  be  worn  for  one 
hundred  days  and  half  mourning  for  twenty- 
seven  months,  by  which  our  grief  may  be  partly 
expressed.  The  order  to  restrain  grief  so  that 
the  affairs  of  the  empire  may  be  of  first  im- 
portance we  dare  not  disregard,  as  it  is  her 
parting  command.  We  will  strive  to  be  temper- 
ate so  as  to  comfort  the  spirit  of  the  late  Empress 
in  Heaven.” 

We  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  according  to 
the  fourth  of  these  edicts  the  death  of  the  Emperor 
is  put  at  from  5 to  7 P.  M on  the  evening  of  the 


352 


Court  Life  in  China 


14th  of  November,  while  that  of  the  Empress 
Dowager  is  from  i to  3 P.  M.  of  the  same  day  at 
least  two  hours  earlier,  and  that  in  her  last  edict 
she  is  made  to  speak  of  the  death  of  Kuang  Hsii. 
Whether  these  dates  have  become  mixed  in  cross- 
ing to  America  we  have  not  been  able  to  ascer- 
tain, though  we  think  it  more  than  likely  that  her 
death  occurred  on  November  15th  instead  of  the 
14th. 


The  Court  and  the  New  Education 


Abolish  the  eight-legged  essay.  Let  the  new  learning  be 
the  test  of  scholarship,  but  include  the  classics,  history, 
geography  and  government  of  China  in  the  examinations. 
The  true  essay  will  then  come  out.  If  so  desired,  the 
eight-legged  essay  can  be  studied  at  home;  but  why 
trouble  the  school  with  them,  and  at  the  same  time  waste 
time  and  strength  that  can  be  expended  in  something  more 
profitable  ? 

— Chang  Chih-tung  in  “ China's  Only  Hope." 


XXII 


THE  COURT  AND  THE  NEW  EDUCATION 

The  changes  in  the  attitude  of  the  court 
towards  a new  educational  system  be- 
gan, as  do  many  great  undertakings,  in 
a very  simple  way.  We  have  already  shown 
how  the  eunuchs  secured  all  kinds  of  foreign 
mechanical  toys  to  entertain  the  baby  Emperor 
Kuang  Hsii ; how  these  were  supplemented  in 
his  boyhood  by  ingenious  clocks  and  watches  ; 
how  he  became  interested  in  the  telegraph,  the 
telephone,  steam  cars,  steamboats,  electric  light 
and  steam  heat,  and  how  he  had  them  first 
brought  into  the  palace  and  then  established 
throughout  the  empire  : and  how  he  had  the 
phonograph,  graphophone,  cinematograph,  bicy- 
cle, and  indeed  all  the  useful  and  unique  inven- 
tions of  modern  times  brought  in  for  his  enter- 
tainment. 

He  then  began  the  study  of  English.  When 
in  1894  a New  Testament  was  sent  to  the  Em- 
press Dowager  on  the  occasion  of  her  sixtieth 
birthday,  he  at  once  secured  from  the  American 
Bible  Society  a copy  of  the  complete  Bible  for 
himself.  He  began  studying  the  Gospel  of  Luke, 

355 


Court  Life  in  China 


356 

This  gave  him  a taste  for  foreign  literature  and 
he  sent  his  eunuchs  to  the  various  book  deposi- 
tories and  bought  every  book  that  had  been  trans- 
lated from  the  European  languages  into  the 
Chinese.  To  these  he  bent  all  his  energies  and 
it  soon  became  noised  abroad  that  the  Emperor 
was  studying  foreign  books  and  was  about  to 
embrace  the  Christian  faith.  This  continued 
from  1894  till  1898,  during  which  time  his  ex- 
ample was  followed  by  tens  of  thousands  of 
young  Chinese  scholars  throughout  the  empire, 
and  Chang  Chih-tung  wrote  his  epoch-making 
book  “ China’s  Only  Hope  ” which,  being  sent  to 
the  young  Emperor,  led  him  to  enter  upon  a 
universal  reform,  the  chief  feature  of  which  may 
be  considered  the  adoption  of  a new  educational 
system. 

But  now  let  us  notice  the  animus  of  Kuang 
Hsii.  He  has  been  praised  without  stint  for  his 
leaning  towards  foreign  affairs,  when  in  reality 
was  it  not  simply  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
young  man  to  make  China  strong  enough  to  re- 
sist the  incursions  of  the  European  powers  ? 
Germany  had  taken  Kiaochou,  Russia  had 
taken  Port  Arthur,  Japan  had  taken  Formosa, 
Great  Britain  had  taken  Weihaiwei,  France  had 
taken  Kuangchouwan,  and  even  Italy  was  anx- 
ious to  have  a slice  of  his  territory,  while  all  the 
English  papers  in  the  port  cities  were  talking  of 
China  being  divided  up  amongst  the  Powers, 


The  Court  and  the  New  Education  357 

and  it  was  these  things  which  led  the  Emperor 
to  enter  upon  his  work  of  reform. 

In  the  summer  of  1898  therefore  he  sent  out 
an  edict  to  the  effect  that : “ Our  scholars  are 

now  without  solid  and  practical  education ; our 
artisans  are  without  scientific  instructors  ; when 
compared  with  other  countries  we  soon  see  how 
weak  we  are.  Does  any  one  think  that  our  troops 
are  as  well  drilled  or  as  well  led  as  those  of  the 
foreign  armies  ? or  that  we  can  successfully  stand 
against  them  ? Changes  must  be  made  to  ac- 
cord with  the  necessities  of  the  times.  . . . 

Keeping  in  mind  the  morals  of  the  sages  and 
wise  men,  we  must  make  them  the  basis  on 
which  to  build  newer  and  better  structures.  We 
must  substitute  modern  arms  and  Western  or- 
ganization for  otir  old  rkgime ; we  mzist  select 
our  military  officers  according  to  Western  meth- 
ods of  77tilitary  education ; we  must  establish 
elementary  and  high  schools,  colleges  and  uni- 
versities, in  accordance  with  those  of  foreign 
countries ; we  must  abolish  the  Wen-chang  (liter- 
ary essay)  and  obtain  a knowledge  of  ancient  and 
modern  world-history,  a right  conception  of  the 
present-day  state  of  affairs,  with  special  reference 
to  the  governments  and  institutions  of  the  coun- 
tries of  the  five  great  continents  ; and  we  must 
understand  their  arts  and  sciences.” 

The  effect  of  this  edict  was  to  cause  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  young  aspirants  for  office  to  put 


Court  Life  in  China 


358 

aside  the  classics  and  unite  in  establishing  reform 
clubs  in  many  of  the  provincial  capitals,  open 
ports,  and  prefectural  cities.  Book  depots  were 
opened  for  the  sale  of  the  same  kind  of  literature 
the  Emperor  had  been  studying,  magazines  and 
newspapers  were  issued  and  circulated  in  great 
numbers,  lectures  were  delivered  and  libraries 
established,  and  students  flocked  to  the  mission 
schools  ready  to  study  anything  the  course  con- 
tained, literary,  scientific  or  religious.  Christians 
and  pastors  were  even  invited  into  the  palace  by 
the  eunuchs  to  dine  with  and  instruct  them.  But 
the  matter  that  gave  the  deepest  concern  to  the 
boy  in  the  palace  was : “ How  can  we  so 

strengthen  ourselves  that  we  will  be  able  to  re- 
sist the  White  Peril  from  Europe  ? ” 

Among  the  important  edicts  issued  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  new  education  was  the  one  of 
June  II,  1898,  in  which  he  ordered  that  “a  great 
central  university  be  established  at  Peking,”  the 
funds  for  which  were  provided  by  the  govern- 
ment. Among  other  things  he  said  : ” Let  all 

take  advantage  of  the  opportunities  for  the  new 
education  thus  open  to  them,  so  that  in  time 
we  may  have  many  who  will  be  competent  to 
help  us  in  the  stupendous  task  of  pictting  our 
country  on  a level  with  the  strongest  of  the  West- 
ern Powers."  It  was  not  wisdom  the  young  man 
was  after  for  the  sake  of  wisdom,  but  he  wanted 
knowledge  because  knowledge  was  power,  and 


The  Court  and  the  New  Education  359 

at  that  time  it  was  the  particular  kind  of  power 
that  was  necessary  to  save  China  from  utter 
destruction. 

On  the  26th  of  the  same  month  he  censured 
the  princes  and  ministers  who  were  lax  in  re- 
porting upon  this  edict,  and  ordered  them  to  do 
so  at  once,  and  it  was  not  long  until  a favourable 
report  was  given  and,  for  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  the  empire,  a great  university  was 
launched  by  the  government,  destined,  may  we 
not  hope,  to  accomplish  the  end  the  ambitious 
boy  Emperor  had  in  view. 

Kuang  Hsii  was  aware  that  a single  institu- 
tion was  not  sufficient  to  accomplish  that  end. 
On  July  loth  therefore  he  ordered  that  “ schools 
and  colleges  be  established  in  all  the  provincial 
capitals,  prefectoral,  departmental  and  district 
cities,  and  allowed  the  viceroys  and  governors 
but  two  months  to  report  upon  the  number  of 
colleges  and  free  schools  within  their  provinces,” 
saying  that  ‘‘all  must  be  changed  into  practical 
schools  for  the  teaching  of  Chinese  literature, 
and  Western  learning  and  become  feeders  to  the 
Peking  Imperial  University.”  He  ordered  fur- 
ther that  all  memorial  and  other  temples  that 
had  been  erected  by  the  people  but  which  were 
not  recorded  in  the  list  of  the  Board  of  Rites  or 
of  Sacrificial  Worship,  were  to  be  turned  into 
schools  and  colleges  for  the  propagation  of 
Western  learning,  a thought  which  was  quite  in 


Court  Life  in  China 


360 

harmony  with  that  advocated  by  Chang  Chih- 
tung.  The  funds  for  carrying  on  this  work, 
and  the  establishment  of  these  schools,  were  to 
be  provided  for  by  the  China  Merchants’  Steam- 
ship Company,  the  Telegraph  Company  and  the 
Lottery  at  Canton. 

On  August  4th  he  ordered  that  numerous  pre- 
paratory schools  be  established  in  Peking  as 
special  feeders  to  the  university ; and  on  the 
9th  appointed  Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin  as  Head  of 
the  Faculty  and  approved  the  site  suggested  for 
the  university  by  Sun  Chia-nai,  the  president. 
On  the  1 6th  he  authorized  the  establishment  of 
a Bureau  for  “ translating  into  Chinese  Western 
works  on  science,  arts  and  literature,  and  text- 
books for  use  in  schools  and  colleges  ” ; and  on 
the  19th  he  abolished  the  “ Palace  examinations 
for  Hanlins  as  useless,  superficial  and  obsolete,” 
thus  severing  the  last  cord  that  bound  them  to 
the  old  regime. 

What,  now,  was  the  Empress  Dowager  doing 
while  Kuang  Hsii  was  issuing  all  these  reform 
edicts,  which,  we  are  told,  were  so  contrary  to 
all  her  reactionary  principles  ? Why  did  she  not 
stretch  forth  her  hand  and  prevent  them  ? She 
was  spending  the  hot  months  at  the  Summer 
Palace,  fifteen  miles  away,  without  offering  either 
advice,  objection  or  hindrance,  and  it  was  not 
until  two  delegations  of  officials  and  princes  had 
appeared  before  her  and  plead  with  her  to  come 


The  Court  and  the  New  Education  361 

and  take  control  of  affairs  and  thus  save  them 
from  being  ousted  or  beheaded,  and  herself  from 
imprisonment,  did  she  consent  to  come.  By  thus 
taking  the  throne  she  virtually  placed  herself  in 
the  hands  of  the  conservative  party,  and  all  his 
reform  measures,  except  that  of  the  Peking  Uni- 
versity and  provincial  schools,  were,  for  the  time, 
countermanded,  and  the  Boxers  were  allowed  to 
test  their  strength  with  the  allied  Powers. 

Passing  over  the  two  bad  years  of  the  Em- 
press Dowager,  which  we  have  treated  in  another 
chapter,  we  find  her  again,  after  the  failure  of  the 
Boxer  uprising,  and  the  return  of  the  court  to 
Peking,  reissuing  the  same  style  of  edicts  that 
had  gone  out  from  the  pen  of  Kuang  Hsii.  On 
August  29,  1901,  she  ordered  “the  abolition  of 
essays  on  the  Chinese  classics  in  examinations 
for  literary  degrees,  and  substituted  therefor  es- 
says and  articles  on  some  phase  of  modern  af- 
fairs, Western  laws  or  political  economy.  This 
same  procedure  is  to  be  followed  in  examination 
of  candidates  for  office.” 

And  now  notice  another  phase  of  this  same 
edict.  “ The  old  methods  of  gaining  military 
degrees  by  trial  of  strength  with  stone  weights, 
agility  with  the  sword,  or  marksmanship  with  the 
bow  on  foot  or  on  horseback,  are  of  no  use  to 
men  in  the  army,  where  strategy  and  rnilitary 
science  are  the  sine  qua  non  to  office,  and  hence 
they  should  be  done  away  with  forever.”  It  is, 


Court  Lite  in  China 


362 

as  it  was  with  Kuang  Hsu,  the  strengthening  of 
the  army  she  has  in  mind  in  her  first  efforts  at 
reform,  that  she  may  be  able  to  back  up  with 
war-ships  and  cannon,  if  necessary,  her  refusal 
to  allow  Italy  or  any  other  European  power  to 
filch,  without  reason  or  excuse,  the  territory  of 
her  ancestors. 

September  12,  1901,  she  issued  another  edict 
commanding  that  “ all  the  colleges  in  the  empire 
should  be  turned  into  schools  of  Western  learn- 
ing ; each  provincial  capital  should  have  a uni- 
versity like  that  in  Peking,  whilst  all  the  schools 
in  the  prefectures  and  districts  are  to  be  schools 
or  colleges  of  the  second  or  third  class,”  neither 
more  nor  less  than  a restatement  of  the  edict  of 
July  10,  1898,  as  issued  by  the  deposed  Emperor, 
except  that  she  confined  it  to  the  schools  without 
taking  the  temples. 

September  17,  1901,  she  ordered  “the  vice- 
roys and  governors  of  other  provinces  to  follow 
the  example  of  Liu  Kun-yi  of  Liang  Kiang,  Chang 
Chih-tung  of  Hukuang,  and  Kuei  Chun  (Manchu) 
of  Szechuan,  in  sending  young  men  of  scholastic 
promise  abroad  to  study  any  branch  of  Western 
science  or  art  best  suited  to  their  tastes,  that  in 
time  they  may  return  to  China  and  place  the 
fruits  of  their  knowledge  at  the  service  of  the 
empire.”  Such  were  some  of  the  edicts  issued 
by  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  Dowager  in 
their  efforts  to  launch  this  new  system  of  education 


YANG  SHIH-HSIANG 


YUAN  SHIH-KAI 


1 

I 


The  Court  and  the  New  Education  363 

which  was  to  transform  the  old  China  into  a strong 
and  sturdy  youth.  What  now  were  the  results  ? 

The  Imperial  College  in  Shansi  was  opened 
with  300  students  all  of  whom  had  already 
taken  the  Chinese  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts. 
It  had  both  Chinese  and  foreign  departments, 
and  after  the  students  had  completed  the  first, 
they  were  allowed  to  pass  on  to  the  second, 
which  had  six  foreign  professors  who  held  di- 
plomas from  Western  colleges  or  universities, 
and  a staff  of  six  translators  of  university  text- 
books into  Chinese,  superintended  by  a foreigner. 
In  1901-2  ten  provinces,  under  the  wise  leader- 
ship of  the  Empress  Dowager,  opened  colleges 
for  the  support  of  which  they  raised  not  less  than 
$400,000. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  questions  given 
at  the  triennial  examinations  of  these  two  years 
in  six  southern  provinces  : 

1.  “ As  Chinese  and  Western  laws  differ,  and 
Western  people  will  not  submit  to  Chinese  pun- 
ishments, what  ought  to  be  done  that  China, 
like  other  nations,  may  be  mistress  in  her  own 
country  ? ” 

2.  “ What  are  the  Western  sources  of  eco- 
nomic prosperity,  and  as  China  is  now  so  poor, 
what  should  she  do  ? ” 

3.  “ According  to  international  law  has  any 
one  a right  to  interfere  with  the  internal  affairs 
of  any  foreign  country  ? ” 


364  Court  Life  in  China 

4.  “ State  the  advantages  of  constructing  rail- 
ways in  Shantung.” 

5,  “ Of  what  importance  is  the  study  of 
chemistry  to  the  agriculturist  ? ” 

While  Yiian  Shih-kai  was  Governor  of  Shan- 
tung he  induced  Dr.  W.  M.  Hayes  to  resign  the 
presidency  of  the  Presbyterian  College  at  Teng 
Choufu  and  accept  the  presidency  of  the  new 
government  college  at  Chinanfu  the  capital  of 
the  province.  Dr.  Hayes  drew  up  a working 
plan  of  grammar  and  high  schools  for  Shantung 
which  were  to  be  feeders  to  this  provincial  col- 
lege. This  was  approved  by  the  Governor,  and 
embodied  in  a memorial  to  the  throne,  copies  of 
which  the  Empress  Dowager  sent  to  the  govern- 
ors and  viceroys  of  all  the  provinces  declaring 
it  to  be  a law,  and  ordering  the  “ viceroys,  gov- 
ernors and  literary  chancellors  to  see  that  it  was 
obeyed.” 

Dr.  Hayes  and  Yuan  Shih-kai  soon  split 
upon  a regulation  which  the  Governor  thought 
it  best  to  introduce,  viz.,  “ That  the  Chinese 
professors  shall,  on  the  first  and  fifteenth  of  each 
month,  conduct  their  classes  in  reverential  sacri- 
fice to  the  Most  Holy  Confucius,  and  to  all  the 
former  worthies  and  scholars  of  the  provinces.” 
Dr.  Hayes  and  his  Christian  teachers  withdrew, 
and  it  was  not  long  until  those  who  professed 
Christianity  were  excused  from  this  rite,  while 
the  Christian  physicians  who  taught  in  the 


The  Court  and  the  New  Education  365 

Peking  Imperial  University  were  allowed  to 
dispense  with  the  queue  and  wear  foreign 
clothes,  as  being  both  more  convenient  and 
more  sanitary. 

When  Governor  Yiian  was  made  viceroy  of 
Chihli,  he  requested  Dr.  C.  D.  Tenny  to  draw 
up  and  put  into  operation  a similar  schedule  for 
the  metropolitan  province.  This  was  done  on  a 
very  much  enlarged  scale,  and  at  present  (1909) 
“ the  Chihli  province  alone  has  nine  thousand 
schools,  all  of  which  are  aiming  at  Western 
education  ; while  in  the  empire  as  a whole  there 
are  not  less  than  forty  thousand  schools,  colleges 
and  universities,”  representing  one  phase  of  the 
educational  changes  that  have  been  brought 
about  in  China  during  the  last  dozen  years. 

The  changes  in  the  new  education  among 
women  promise  to  be  even  more  sweeping  than 
those  among  men.  Dr.  Martin,  expressing  the 
sentiments  then  in  vogue,  said,  as  far  back  as 
1877,  “ that  not  one  in  ten  thousand  women 
could  read.”  In  1893  I began  studying  the  sub- 
ject, and  was  led  at  once  to  doubt  the  statement. 
The  Chinese  in  an  offhand  way  will  agree  with 
Dr.  Martin.  But  I found  that  it  was  a Chinese 
woman  who  wrote  the  first  book  that  was  ever 
written  in  any  language  for  the  instruction  of 
girls,  and  that  the  Chinese  for  many  years  have 
had  “ Four  Books  for  Girls  ” corresponding  to 
the  “Four  Books”  of  the  old  regime,  and  that 


366  Court  Life  in  China 

they  were  printed  in  large  editions,  and  have 
been  read  by  the  better  class  of  people  in  almost 
every  family.  In  every  company  of  women  that 
came  to  call  on  my  wife  from  1894  to  1900,  there 
was  at  least  one  if  not  more  who  had  read  these 
books,  while  the  Empress  Dowager  herself  was 
a brilliant  example  of  what  a woman  of  the  old 
regime  could  do.  Where  the  desire  for  educa- 
tion was  so  great  among  women,  that  as  soon  as 
it  became  possible  to  do  so,  she  launched  the 
first  woman’s  daily  newspaper  that  was  pub- 
lished anywhere  in  the  world,  with  a woman  as 
an  editor,  we  may  be  sure  that  there  was  more 
than  one  in  ten  thousand  during  the  old  regime 
that  could  read.  What  therefore  may  we  expect 
in  this  new  regime  where  women  are  ready  to 
sacrifice  their  lives  rather  than  that  the  school 
which  they  are  undertaking  to  establish  shall  be 
a failure  ? 


INDEX 


Agriculture,  Temple  of,  337 
Alute,  39  ; relatives  of,  40 
America,  30,  220 
American  Bible  Society,  123 
Amoor,  42 
Anhui  braves,  42 
Arrow  war,  29 
Art,  Chinese,  84 
Art  gallery,  198 
Astronomy,  240 

Audience,  diplomatic  ladies  pre- 
pare for,  69,  96,  97  ff.,  156, 

161,  165 

Audience,  first,  39,  155 
Audiences,  at  midiught,  194 

Ball,  Dyer,  288 
Beggars,  236 

Beresford,  Lord  Charles,  25 
Blackwood's  Magazine,  52 
Board  of  Mines,  80 
Board  of  Punishments,  286 
Board  of  Railroads,  80 
Board  of  Rites,  157 
Bomb  blows  up  train,  74 
Boxers,  54,  55,  69,  98,  144,  157, 

162,  164,  167,  172,  179,  180, 
206,  223,  234,  236 

Brass,  331 

Brick  bed,  252 

Bronze,  331 

Brougham,  176 

Buddha,  thousand  armed,  196 

Buddhists,  300 

Bushell,  S.  W.,  84 

Calisthenics,  214,  216 
Canton,  241 
Carl,  Miss,  104,  198 
Carts,  Chinese,  272 
Chang  Chih-tung,  46,  56,  172, 
306,  314,  354 


Chang  Hsii,  Mrs.,  203 
Chang  Yin-huan,  44 
Chen,  Mr.,  152 
Chiang,  General,  181 
Chien  Lung,  34,  36,  121,  193 
Chien  men,  190 
Chihli,  Province  of,  43,  345 
Chinese  Government,  rescue  of 
French  prisoners  by,  25 
Chinese  lady’s  ideal  of  beauty, 
229  ; not  received  at  court,  233 
Chinese  Progress,  57,  58,  143 
Ching,  Prince,  45,  104,  147,  170, 
172,  174,  177,  205,  2ois,  208, 
209,  231,  306,  320 
Chin  Shih  (graduate  of  the  third 
degree),  277 
Christian  schools,  53 
Christian  women  give  Bible  to 
Empress  Dowager,  122 
Chuang,  Prince,  179,  205 
Chuang  Yiian  (highest  type  of 
graduate),  221,  277 
Chit  Jen  (graduate  of  the  second 
degree),  277 

Chiin,  Prince,  ancestry,  172  ; ap- 
pearance, 173  ; attends  dedi- 
catory services,  180 ; changes 
officials,  307  ; gives  luncheon, 
170;  humour,  173;  prepared 
for  the  regency,  178;  selected 
regent,  160,  17 1;  understand 
foreign  affairs,  182 
Chiin,  Princess,  177 
Circus,  Chinese,  223 
“ Classic  for  Girls,”  quotations 
from,  26  f. 

“ Classic  for  Girls,”  filial  piety,  27 
Coal  Hill,  190,  192,  196-197 
College  of  Inscriptions,  90 
Colquhoun,  A.  R.,  25,  246 
Concubines,  13,  242,  248,  257,  305 


367 


Index 


368 


Conger,  Major,  173,  181 
Conger,  Mrs.  E.  H.,  96,  104,  173, 
177,  200 

Conservatives,  54,  55,  74,  13 1, 

145.  159.  172,  176 

Constitution  for  China,  73 

Coup  d’etat,  204 

Court  ladies,  100 

Court  painters,  89 

Curio  street,  Liu  Li  Chang,  92 

Curriculum  of  girls’  schools,  217 

Dane  shopkeeper,  115,  116 
Denby,  Colonel,  25,  36,  44,  130, 
156 

Dining  habits,  259 
Diphtheria,  281 

“ Do  not  know  my  own  chil- 
' dren,”  258 

Dowager  Princess,  295,  298 
Dress,  and  dressing,  252  ff. 

Duke  Kuei,  201 

Duke  Tse,  with  commission,  77, 
207 

Eclipse,  153 

Edicts,  list  of  by  Kuang  Hsii, 

137  f 

Embroidery,  217,  251 
Empress  Dowager,  where  born, 
9 ; father’s  name,  9 ; don’t 
talk  about,  lo;  brothers  and 
sisters  of,  10  ; when  born,  10 ; 
appearance  of,  8 ; enjoys  the- 
atricals,  II;  name  (Miss 
Chao),  registered,  11-12.;  se- 
lected as  concubine,  14-27  ; 
character  of,  18,  33,  36,  52, 97  ; 
attitude  towards  Boxers  ac- 
counted for,  22 ; first  impres- 
sions of  the  foreigner,  24  ; dis- 
position to  learn,  27  ; beheads 
six  reformers,  60 ; Western, 
28 ; Eastern,  28 ; exile  at 
Jehol,  31  ; two  phases  in  life 
of,  31;  policy  of,  34,  48; 
realization  of  her  duty,  36  ; 
characteristics  of,  36,  194  ff., 
209 ; ability  to  choose  states- 


men, 36,  146  ; regent,  37  ; not 
satisfied,  37  ; adopts  Prince 
Kung’s  daughter,  38 ; plans 
for  succession,  39 ; watches 
officials,  43,  45,  46  ; plays  one 
party  against  another,  48 ; 
again  called  to  throne,  53;  is- 
sues secret  edict,  61  ; issues 
unwise  edicts,  314;  ready  to 
go  to  war,  64  ; convert  to  the 
policy  of  progress,  68;  began 
reforms,  72 ; photographs  of, 
73;  painting  teacher  of,  85, 
86 ; as  an  artist,  86  ff. ; as 
Goddess  of  Mercy,  90,  91  ; 
asks  bowl  of,  100  ; apartments 
of,  192  ; private  audiences  of, 
102  ; death  of,  343  ff.  ; inquires 
about  education  of  girls,  102  ; 
issues  edict  commending  fe- 
male education,  103 ; her 
name,  344;  inquires  about 
church,  103 ; superstitions  of, 
104,  105  ; appearance  of,  107  ; 
no  double  in  history,  109 ; sat 
behind  him  holding  reins,  142 ; 
not  reactionary,  144 ; calls 
meeting  of  princes,  161,  162, 
163;  arranges  marriages,  176; 
subscribes  to  Union  Medical 
College,  181 

England,  30,  53,  133,  141,  182 
Eunuch,  Li  Lien-ying,  92 
Eunuchs,  97,  123,  124,  125,  154, 
166,  205,  213,  231,  249,  252, 

271.  305 

Fairs,  330 
Famine  relief,  222 
Fast  days,  268 

Father’s  name,  will  not  speak, 
277 

Feet,  bound,  230 

Filial  piety,  “ Classic  for  Girls,”  27 

Food,  Chinese,  218 

Foot-binding,  105 

Forbidden  City,  42,  186,  187  ff. 

Foreign  devil,  24 

Foreign  office,  37,  60 


Index 


369 


“ Four  Books  for  Girls,”  365 
France,  30,  53,  133,  141,  175, 
182 

French  prisoners,  25 
Fruit  in  Peking,  258 
Funeral  ceremonies,  289  ff. 

Furs,  331 

Garden,  19 i,  262 
German  Emperor,  175 
German  missionaries,  55 
Germany,  53,  133,  175,  182,  356 
Giles,  Prof.,  37,  270 
“ Girls,  Primer  for,”  228 
Gladstone  photographed  with  Li 
Hung-chang,  45 

God,  slave  girl  prayed  only  to, 
240 

“ Golden  Lilies,”  230 
Gorst,  Harold,  26 
Gospel,  power  of  the,  34OJ 
Grand  council,  7 1 
Great  Britain  and  opium,  80 
Great  pure  dynasty,  34 

Hair,  combing  of  the,  254 
Hang  Chou,  lady  of,  223 
Hanlin  (graduate  of  the  fourth 
degree),  277 

Hart,  Sir  Robert,  48,  181,  248 
Hayes,  W.  M.,  364 
Headland,  Mrs.,  85,  86,  87,  91, 
96,  157,  161,  165,  176,  202, 
206,  213,  229,  243,  251,  271 
Heaven,  eastern,  299 
Henry,  Prince,  155 
Holcomb,  Chester,  25,  304 
Home,  a Chinese,  247 
Hongkong,  141 
Plopkins,  Dr.,  91,  180,  i8i 
Hsian,  118,  165,  188,  239 
Hsien  Feng,  Emperor,  14,  37, 
142,  172,  201,  348  ; concubine 
of,  14;  flees  from  British,  31  ; 
died  at  Jehol,  31 

Hsin  Tsai  (graduate  of  the  first 
degree),  277 
Hsii  Ching-cheng,  164 


Hsii,  the  Misses,  276 
Hu,  Governor,  173,  174,  i8i 

Ills  of  Chinese  ladies,  271 
Imperial  College,  132 
Imperial  present,  265 
Imperial  Princess,  205,  206 
Imperial  temples,  196 
Imperial  University,  139,  155 
Incense-burners,  331 
Intrigue,  palace,  41 
Italy,  182 

Japan,  135,  140,  143,  152,  182 
Japanese,  188,  215,  216,  220 
Jehol,  31 
Jewelry,  332 
Johnston,  Charles,  1 13 
Johnston,  R.  F.,  328 
Jung,  Lady,  176 

Jung  Lu,  47,  54,  55,  59,  135, 
146,  31 1 

Jupiter  and  his  moons,  240 
Ju  yi  (a  wedding  present),  251, 
262 

Ka-la-chin,  Princess,  218 
Kang  Hsi,  34,  193 
Kang  Kuang-jen,  60,  157 
Kang  Yi,  55 

Kang  Yu-wei,  54,  59,  60,  134, 
135.  148,  153.  157.  204,  309 
Kettler,  Baron  von,  174,  178, 
179,  180,  181 
Kiaochou,  141 
Kuan,  Mr.,  89,  90 
Kuang-chou-wan,  141 
Kuang  Hsii,  42,  54,  74,  151; 
loses  four  ports,  53;  deposed, 
53  ; issues  edict,  56  ; standing 
to  left  of  Dowager,  71  ; be- 
trothal of,  107  ; appearance  of, 
1 12,  167;  chosen  emperor, 

1 14;  fondness  for  toys,  115, 
131  ; not  an  ideal  child,  117; 
apartments  of,  1 18;  fondness 
for  railroad  telegraph,  etc., 
1 19,  120;  face  turned  to  the 
future,  121,  122;  buys  Bible, 


370 


Index 


123 ; studies  Gospel  of  Luke, 
1 23 ; issues  edict  favouring 
Christianity,  125,  130;  studies 
English,  126;  buys  foreign 
books,  127,  133;  tries  to  ride 
bicycle,  128;  as  a man,  131  ; 
not  an  imbecile,  131 ; list  of 
edicts  issued  by,  137  ff.;  selec- 
tion of  a successor,  159;  op- 
poses Boxers,  163;  how- 
guarded,  167  ; dines  with  Em- 
press Dowager,  168;  kicks  off 
shoe  at  Yehonala,  202  j hates 
Yuan  Shih-kai,  316;  com- 
plains of  his  hard  lot,  322; 
could  not  have  been  put  to 
death  by  any  one  man,  323 
Kuei  Chun,  56 

Kuei  Fei  (first  concubine),  27 
Kung,  Prince,  31,  32,  36,  37,  38, 

41.  45.  135.  205 

Lady  Yuan,  208 
Lamas,  300,  339 
Launches,  steam,  I2I 
Liang  Chi-tsao,  60 
Liang  Tung-yen,  170 
Li  Han-chang,  282 
Li  Hung-chang,  41,  42,  43,  145, 
172,  175,  278,  280,  282,  306; 
sent  to  Japan,  44 ; sent  to  Rus- 
sia, 44 ; “ Bismarck  of  the 

East,”  45  ; invited  to  Summer 
Palace,  45 ; degraded,  45  ; 
Viceroy  of  Kuangtung,  56 
Li  Lien-ying,  92,  168 
Li  Ping-heng,  55 
Li  Po,  230 
Literati,  304 
Liu  Hsin,  60 
Liu  Kuang-ti,  60 
Liu  Kun-yi,  46,  56,  314 
Liu  Li  Chang,  curio  street,  92 
Lotus  Lake,  196 

Manchu  lady’s  ideal  of  beauty, 
229 

Manchu  and  Chinese  ladies  do 
not  associate,  231 


Manchu  uses  cosmetics  freely, 

254 

Manners  and  customs  of  the  Chi- 
nese, 246 
Map  on  fan,  175 

Marriages,  students’  method,  250 
Marry  a princess,  no  prince  can, 
218 

Martin,  W.  A.  P.,  68,  156,  360, 

365 

Meats  in  Peking,  259 
Medicine,  282,  283 
Memorial  arch,  to  von  Kettler, 
179 

Men  and  their  clothing,  263 
Miao,  Lady,  85,  86,  87,  88,  93 
Missionary  educational  institu- 
tions, 132 

Mongolian,  218,  220,  221 
Month  old  feast,  266 
Moore,  Bishop,  181 
Mother-in-law,  257,  273 
Mourning  rites,  288 

Nanking,  address  of  Tuan  Fang 
at,  76 

Nanking  University,  76 
Na  Tung,  179,  181 
Newspaper,  Woman's  Daily,  225 
New  Testament,  122 
New  York,  252 

Occupation  of  Chinese  ladies, 

251 

Opium  reform  of  Empress  Dow- 
ager, 78 
Opium  War,  22 
Opium  (Yang  Yen),  23 
Ore,  stores  of,  219 

Painting  teacher,  of  Empress 
Dowager,  85 
Palace,  party  in  the,  41 
Pawned  trousers  of  child,  276 
Peking,  189  ; description  of,  189, 
328  ; city  of  the  court,  329 
Peking  University,  59,  145 
Peter  the  Great,  134 
Philadelphia,  258 


Index 


371 


Phonograph,  120 
Physicians,  283,  284,  345 
Porcelain,  33 1,  333 
Port  Arthur,  14 1 

Portrait  of  Empress  Dowager,  104 
Precious  stones,  332 
Priests,  295 

Princesses,  71;  Princess  Shun, 
85,  200,  207,  208  ; Princess  Pu 
Lun,  182;  Princess  Tsai  Chen, 
208 ; fourth  Princess,  209 ; 
Princess  Su,  213 
Private  audiences,  102 
Progressives,  55 
Prospect  Hill,  197 
Protocol,  165 
Pu  I,  160,  17 1,  346 
Pu  Lun,  182,  306 
Pu  Lun,  Princess,  182 

Questions  for  examination,  363 
Queue,  abolition  of,  143;  aManchu 
style,  232 

Reform  club,  133,  134 
Reform  really  due  to  Emperor,  72 
Reformers,  55 

Reformers,  six  beheaded,  54,  60 
Regency,  after  death  of  Hsien 
Feng,  31 

Registration,  objections  to,  12 
Roosevelt,  President,  73 
Russia,  53,  133,  141 
Russia  invited  to  join  England  in 
war,  30 

Saint  James,  Court  of,  248 
Samuel,  little,  267 
Saratoga  trunk,  272 
Schools,  214,  365 
Scidmore,  Elizah  Ruhamah,  8 
Sealed  memorials,  144 
Secret  edict,  61 
Sedan  chair,  259  ff. 

Seventh  Prince,  married  to  Em- 
press Dowager’s  sister,  39,  201 
Shakespeare,  194 
Shanghai,  120 
Shansi,  56 


Shantung,  56 

Shoes  for  Empress  Dowager,  274 
Shun,  Princess,  85,  200,  207,  208 
Silkworm,  197 

Sister  of  Empress  Dowager  mar- 
ried to  Seventh  Prince,  39 
Sisters-in-law,  250,  252 
Slave  girl  saved  by  mistress, 

234  ff- 

Smith,  Arthur  H.,  33,  157 
Social  life,  247 

Soldiers,  paper,  20  ; stories  about, 
21 

Spirit  doctors,  284 

St.  Louis  Exposition,  220 

Su,  Dowager  Princess,  289  ff. 

Su,  Prince,  162,  163,  170,  214, 
218,  219,  221,  231,  290,  293, 
298,  306 

Suicide,  224,  280 
Summer  Palace,  45,  I2I,  144, 
146,  147 

Sun  Chia-nai,  360 
Sunday,  217 

Table  decorations,  98 
Taft,  Marcus  L.,  126 
Tai-ping  Rebellion,  19 
Tai-ping,  stories  of,  20-21 
Talienwan,  141 
“ Talking  in  the  sleeve,”  333 
Tan  Sze-tung,  60 
Taoists,  300 
Tao  Kuang,  173,  177 
Tartar  City,  330 
Tea  drinking,  261 
Telescope,  240 
Temple  of  Heaven,  151,  334 
Temples  of  Agriculture,  337  ; of 
the  Sun,  338 ; of  the  Moon,  338 ; 
of  the  Earth,  338 ; Lama,  338 ; 
Confucian,  338,  339 
Tenny,  C.  D.,  317,  365 
Testament,  New,  sent  to  Empress 
Dowager,  355 
Theatre,  168,  263,  264 
Third  Princess,  221,  223 
Tourists,  197 

Townley,  Lady  Susan,  342 


372 


Index 


Train  provided  for  Empress,  74 
Travelling,  methods  of,  in  Peking, 
259  £f. 

Tsai  Chen,  170,  208 
Tsai  Feng  (Prince  Chiin),  160 
Tsai  Tien  (see  KuangHsu),  1 14, 
”5 

Tse,  Duke,  77,  207 
Tuan  Fang,  Governor  of  Shensi, 
56;  head  of  commission,  74, 
75 ; address  at  Waldorf-As- 
toria, 76 ; address  at  Nanking 
University,  76 

Tuan,  Prince,  48,  161,  162;  ap- 
pointed member  of  foreign  of- 
fice, 48 ; selection  of  his  son  as 
emperor,  159 ; determination 
to  murder  Von  Kettler,  179 
Tu  Fu,  270 

Tung  Chill,  32,  34,  113,  160,  201  ; 
married,  39;  death  of,  40,  41, 

113 

Uncle,  lady  flees  to,  239 
University,  Peking  Imperial,  359 

Vegetable  food,  267 
Vinegar,  eat,  249 
Visit  the  Forbidden  City,  188 
Vos,  Mr.  198 

Waist-binding,  106 
Waldorf-Astoria,  75 
Wang  Chao,  143,  157 
Wang  Wen-shao,  46 
Washington,  252,  332 
Wei-hai-wei,  141 


Western  education,  222 
White  peril,  358 
Widows,  254 

Wildman,  Rounsevelle,  ISO 
Williams,  S.  Wells,  186 
Woman’s  Daily  Newspaper,  225 
Women,  their  position,  330 
Wu  men,  189 
Wu-Sung  Railroad,  120 

Yang  Jui,  60 
Yang  Shen-hsin,  60 
Yehonala,  77,  201,  202,  207 
Yin-ma,  20 
Yin-Yang,  345 
Yuan  Chang,  164 
“ Yuan  Fan,”  18 
Yiian,  Lady,  208 
Yiian  Shih-kai,  46,  146,  17  2; 
placed  in  charge  of  army,  47, 
75  ; ordered  to  imprison  Em- 
press Dowager,  47  ; Governor 
of  Shantung,  56,  312,  315; 
birthplace,  307 ; pupil  of  Li 
Hung-chang,  308;  called  an 
opportunist,  310;  summoned 
to  Peking,  31 1 ; tests  Boxer 
leaders,  312;  disobeys  Em- 
press Dowager’s  edicts,  314; 
mother  dies,  315 ; Yellow 
Jacket  received,  317 ; made 
Viceroy  of  Chihli,  317  ; estab- 
lishes public  school  system, 
318;  could  not  have  put  Kuang 
Hsii  to  death,  323 
Yii  Hsien,  55,  56 
Yii,  Mr.,  court  photographer,  92 


/ 


H433D  cop.l  117379 


V , 


915.1 


